Secret of a Swan
by Madeline Cullen
Summary: Bella has a secret that she's been keeping from Edward. One that could alter their lives. One that could open his eyes to a new world. Will the departure of the vampires finally make Bella Swan fall from grace? Will they find out that she is an Angel?
1. La Tua Cantante

Preface

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><p>I ground my teeth in pain as the truck I was in bounced up and down, causing my bruised body to slam against things and give me a jolt of pain every single time.<p>

The truck gave a hard break and my body went sliding against the back until my head collided with metal separating the cabin from the bed of the vehicle. A stream of copper invading my mouth alerted me to the fact that I had bitten my tongue upon impact.

A curtain of blinding light came in from the back and I was hauled out by my ankles and made to stand up.

I shook my head to get my sweaty hair out of my eyes and almost growled when I was grabbed and made to walk through some humid place.

To think that no more than a year after Edward left, I would be in the same position I was when around him—awaiting my imminent death.

I was staring down death's door as the creature yanked me around by the forearm, a clear line of slobber going over it's black lips and down its protruding chin.

It grabbed me by the hair and cheerfully slammed me against the wall laced with lobelia, so I felt the exact moment my head, shoulders and back slammed against the wall, erupting into raging fires and electricity. Immediately I felt the need to release the contents of my stomach, feeling the acrid bile tumble out of my mouth and decorate the cold, jagged stone in shades of putrid lime with chunks of mashed up ravioli I had eaten recently floating in it, a stench coming off of it like death.

I howled in pain as shackled were slammed across my wrists, my throat aching and burning as if I had been screeching out my anguish for a thousand years rather than the few minutes in which my body made contact with the poisonous plant.

And then came the final agony as rods as sharp as knives and the width of my wrists were shoved straight through the joints of my wings until the came out the other side.

~.~.~

Chapter 1: La Tua Cantante

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><p>It all started the night of my party.<p>

I was getting ready for whatever horrors Alice was going to subject me to. After all, giving free reign to a diabolical pixie vampire to organize a birthday party, with unlimited funds, is about the worst masochistic torture someone can bring onto himself or herself. Especially when the ideal birthday to them is pretending it was a regular day.

As I pulled on the straps of my blue dress (another torture method implemented by the crazy pixie I called my best friend) I couldn't help but notice this sense of dread that lodged itself in the center of my stomach.

I made my way downstairs and came face to face with Charlie, who was running his hand through his hair, still clad in his police uniform, his gun holster up on the coat rack.

"You feel it, too?" I asked, knowing he would know what I was talking about. I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall.

"Yeah," he furrowed his brow. "I don't know what it could be though."

Charlie was like my father, in more ways than one. He was my guardian, someone who could ground me while we stayed in Forks. Most people assumed he was my father, and we were all right with that. Between him and Renee pretending to be my parents I was good, fitting into the human façade like a foot fits a sock.

He had always been in tune with my feelings, whether they were my human feelings or my instincts. It was a comfort, to be able to lean on someone without having to have to open my mouth to spill my guts out the way some girls had to every three seconds for fear of spontaneous combustion.

"Maybe, I should tell them what I am…" I trailed off at the conflicting stare Charlie gave me, knowing he was in the midst of an internal battle, trying to decide what to make of my words.

The Cullens had fallen for the human façade a long while ago. And I don't blame them; my kind had the ultimate camouflage abilities. If they didn't believe the act, then I would have had to go to the Big Guns and fix the blue prints of our abilities until even vampires could fall for it.

Of course, there was a tiny flaw. Our scents when camouflaged were extremely potent and intoxicating to vampires. They called us singers. Many of my kind had their bodies drained of all blood at the hands of vampires, but came back in a different form.

"I think that's a good idea," he nodded. "If they know what you are, they might be able to help with whatever is coming this way."

I blinked at him in slight disbelief; he had always put up such a big argument when I brought up the idea of revealing the existence of my kind to the Cullens that now that he accepted it with such calm ruffled my feathers.

"You sure?" I hedged, looking to see if he was turning red or purple, the usual signs that he was displeased with me and was waiting to unleash his fury on me.

He quickly shot me a glare, "Yes, Bella, tell them. Before I change my mind."

I nodded my head quickly and hurried up the steps to my room, stubbing my toe on the doorframe and hobbling into my room muttering "Ow!"

I lifted my foot to cup the injured toe in my arms and muttered a couple curses when a knock came from downstairs, and I limped to my window, seeing the telltale shiny Volvo in the driveway. I smiled and made my way back downstairs, stubbed toe suddenly forgotten.

Edward had wanted to watch Romeo and Juliet with me afterschool, but I had told him that it was okay; it wasn't as if I didn't have the movie memorized. Plus, I needed to get ready so that Alice wouldn't feel the need to attack me with a Kabuki-brush and accessory kit.

I came straight back down the stairs, stumbling a bit in the heels I was wearing, and came face to face with Adonis.

Edward stood before me, crooked grin on his lips when he saw me. He wore fitted pants and a button up shirt that screamed designer, and his hair almost floated around him. His topaz eyes smoldered, as they looked at me with breath taking intensity, stopping me right where I stood.

"Well, Bella," Charlie came up and hugged me, snapping me out of my vampire-induced dazzlement. "Have fun at the party, and say hi to Alice for me. She hasn't been over in a while."

"It's been three days, Charlie," I reminded him, stopping myself short of rolling my eyes playfully. Charlie had grown attached to Alice after James mauled my leg last spring. She helped me take care of myself and rescued Charlie from the horror of seeing his charge naked. Nonetheless, I nodded at him with a little smile, "I'll tell her."

"Okay, you kids enjoy yourselves tonight." He was clearly sending us off, but shot me one last meaningful look, speaking volumes to me about what we had discussed.

I nodded and turned back to Edward, grinning when he opened both the door to the house and my truck for me, then got into the driver's seat and revved up the engine of my little grandpa truck.

I didn't argue that much, the turn to his house was difficult for a human to find, and I had to make sure that I kept up the act until I could gather his family and confess my secret to them—then beg them for acceptance.

Well, maybe not beg, but close enough.

Before I realized it, we had pulled up to the house, having spent the drive in a comfortable silence.

He zoomed around to my side of the car, opened my door and helped me get down from the truck with the manners of any gentleman born in the early nineteen hundreds.

"Wait!" I said, as we arrived at the front door, "Is _everyone_ here? Rosalie and Emmett too?"

Rosalie and Emmett had gone to Africa, on another honeymoon under the guise of having left for college. When I asked why on Earth they went on a _honeymoon_ to _Africa_ of all places, Edward chuckled and had replied that Emmett wanted take down a rhino or two and see if a Nile Crocodile could compete with the taste of Black Bear.

"Yes, Emmett wanted to come back to celebrate your birthday," he said, giving me a mischievous look that really didn't comfort me.

I suppressed a groan knowing the vampires inside would be able to hear me. That meant that Rosalie was in there too, probably furious that she had been dragged away from her honeymoon to celebrate "the human's" birthday.

It wasn't that I disliked Rosalie; it was just that a girl could only handle a couple thousand death glares before it got tiring.

Edward opened the door with a little, "Ladies first, mademoiselle," and I was met with a chorus of "Happy birthday, Bella!"

I blushed and stared around the room.

Alice had gone insane. Everywhere I looked and every flat surface in sight had crystal bowls filled with dozens of roses, so much so that it form a perfect little dome, and pink candles on white cloth. The birthday cake had to have been the most intricate thing I had ever seen, with little designs that would've been unnoticeable to a normal human etched into the frosting, and little loops of white frosting decorating the edges. In the center, in impeccable cursive, was "Happy Birthday Bella!" with eighteen candles spread throughout the pastry.

Square porcelain plates sat in a stack next to the cake, along with a cacophony of delicious smelling food that only I would eat.

I was worse than I'd feared.

Esme and Carlisle, Edward's perfect and youthful parents practically floated over to me, Esme's caramel colored hair brushing against my cheek as she kissed my forehead while Carlisle wrapped his arm around my shoulders

"I'm sorry about this, it's impossible to reel Alice in once she's gone on a rampage," he whispered theatrically, even though everyone could hear him perfectly.

"Hey!" Alice called out indignantly, her button nose wrinkling up, "It's not as if I called a stripper to give her a lap dance!"

The vampires in the room laughed and my cheeks burned from blushing as I realized that she had probably had wanted that in the original plans. In fact, it was very likely she had organized the strippers outfit and everything down to how they would pivot their butts in my face.

Emmett strode over to me in a light blue button down shirt and slacks, with a grace that seemed unnatural to someone as huge as he was, and enclosed me in a bear hug once Carlisle let go. From the corner of my eye, I saw Rosalie—his impossibly beautiful mate dressed in a strappy red number—staring at us impassively, neither mad nor happy despite the energy in the room, simply enduring it.

"You just don't change," Emmett said, disappointed, almost pouting. "I expected a change, maybe some white hair, but your still the same blushing Bella."

If it was possible, my face burned even more, "Uh, thanks Emmett?"

He let out a loud guffaw as he watched my face change colors, "Imma step out for a second"—he sent a mischievous look at Alice, winking in an obvious manner—"Don't do anything I wouldn't do while I'm gone."

"I'll try!" Alice said, her voice achieving a bell-like quality humans couldn't.

She let go of Jasper's hand and danced over to me, practically a human energizer bunny with how much drive she had, chipper as always. Jasper gave me a smile but kept his distance. He was leaning against the stairs, his blond hair flopping in front of his eyes.

"Time to open presents!" Alice declared, bouncing around the table that held various sized packages.

"Alice, I _told you_ I didn't want anything!" I said, my face twisting in odd ways. Behind me, Edward laughed.

"But I didn't listen!" she stuck her tongue out at me quickly and placed a big silver box in my hands. "Open it!"

I glanced at the box then around the room. "On one condition," I gave in, realizing my chance to confess. "You listen to me when the night is over. I have something I need to tell you. All of you."

Alice nodded so fast it was blur and then insisted I open the package.

I did so and came face to face with something that I didn't recognize at all. "Er, thank you?"

Jasper laughed at me, and even Rosalie sent me a rare grin. "It's a car stereo," Jasper helped. "Emmett's installing it right now so you can't return it. Edward said yours was horrible."

"Thanks Jasper, Rosalie," I said, grinning as I recalled how many times Edward had complained about the quality of my ancient truck's radio. "Thanks Emmett!" I called, a little louder.

A booming laughter came from outside and couldn't help giggling myself, too.

"Open the one Edward and I got you!" Alice trilled, holding a tiny flat box in her hand.

I gave Edward a seething glare that screamed mutiny, "You promised not to get me anything!"

As he answered, Emmett bounded through the door, "I didn't spend a dime," Edward assured me.

I shook my head and turned to Alice, taking the box out of her hand. I slipped my finger underneath the tape, hissing softly when a tiny droplet of blood dripped out of my newly acquired paper cut.

And then every thing happened in slow motion.

Jasper lunged at me, his eyes pitch black, lips curled back in an awful snarl that truly made him look like a ferocious vampire. Then, Edward jumped in front of me, throwing me back with such force that I slammed onto his grand piano with a horrible clang of keys, a gash appearing on my arm, oddly numb compared to the paper cut.

Jasper went limp and let him be carried away by Alice and Emmett, Rosalie going out with them. All three were sporting black eyes and bruises, as if they had spent a full two weeks without a drop of blood.

Esme cast me an anguished look, mouthing, "I'm sorry Bella," and left with them. The only two who remained were Carlisle and Edward.

Edward was stiff as a board as he looked at me, his eyes no longer the inviting topaz from just an hour ago. He looked pained as he stared at me, Carlisle having flashed to my side.

"Leave son, it's okay," Carlisle said, a mournful tenor to his voice.

Edward nodded, glanced at me once and was gone.

"I'm sorry," I muttered as later Carlisle dabbed a cotton swab dipped in alcohol onto my wound. I didn't really feel what he was doing, still in some sort of shock after the complete mess the party had turned into.

"It's fine Bella. It could happen to anyone," he said.

"_Could,_" I emphasized. "But it happens to me." He gave a laugh at that.

The night melted away in a hazy, dreamy sort of manner once he had patched me up, with a sort of fatherly smile on his mouth, as if his whole family hadn't just tried to devour me.

Edward drove me home once he had regained his senses, but he did it in a manner that a Zombie would've been proud of, I think.

It turned out, that would be the last time I saw the Cullens that year. And my secret had been completely forgotten. I begged Edward to come stay with me that night, but was held off by his insistent refusals. So I ended up trudging inside.

And when Charlie asked how the night went, I listened to make sure Edward was gone, and when I was satisfied, and sat down on the couch and told him all the details.

"So the blond one lunged at you?" he asked again.

I nodded gravely, "But it wasn't his fault. I should've manipulated my body to open the package, been more careful. Who fault's a person for giving into a temptation?"

He nodded, "I know what you mean. So, I guess you didn't tell them your secret?"

This time, I shook my head, "There was no time for it. I told them I was going to tell them something after the party, but obviously that didn't really happen. It's not like I was going to blurt it out while they hauled Jasper away."

We spoke a bit more, before I went to sleep.

And then, two days later, after awkward moments with Edward, he pulled me out to the forest for a "talk." Somehow, that didn't really comfort me after the days of mumbled answers with zombified-Edward.

And then, he shoved a knife in me, "Bella, we're leaving."

I took a choking breath, before asking "Okay, when do we leave?" I hadn't really expected him to want to leave so suddenly, but I could handle, just change some papers, keep a line of contact with Charlie, hell, this would make confessing my secret easier if we left Forks.

"No, Bella," he stared back coldly, his eyes as flat as topaz gems.

And then, I felt nausea roll through me, bile pressing on the back of my throat repulsively. "When you say _we—,_" I muttered, horrified.

"I mean my family and myself," he said, each word twisting the knife in my gut more and more.

I insisted I would join him.

"No, Bella, you can't go where we're going. It's not a place for humans."

A flash of resolve passed through me, "Don't be ridiculous, I'll go with you! I belong with you." _I'm not human, anyways; I can abandon the façade for him._

An unidentifiable emotion flashed through his eyes, "I'm no good for you Bella."

I stared at him incredulously, pushing traitor tears back, "That's the most idiotic thing I've heard!"

"My world is not for you," he said grimly.

I kept my mouth shut, staring at him with my eyes wide.

He took a deep breath and aimed his dead, flat eyes at the ground instead of at me. "I don't want you anymore Bella.

A small amount of time passed where I mulled over the words, the knife turned into knives, ripping my heart out.

"You…don't…" I mumbled unseeingly, my crossed arms falling to my sides.

"No," he confirmed. "I don't want you anymore. You're not good for me, Bella. I don't love you anymore." He looked back up at me.

I could only imagine I looked like a gaping fish, but my confusion melted away, replaced by a crushing pain. "If…that's what you want."

I was numb, staring at his perfect face. Unfeeling, much like the zombie-state he was in in the days past, dying; hopeless and helpless.

"Promise me, don't do anything stupid or reckless, please," he ordered. "Do you understand me?"

I nodded, not really aware of the action.

"And in return, it'll be as if I never existed"—the blood rushed to my ears, and I think the façade was about to come crashing down all around me—"Don't worry, you're human—your memory is no more than a sieve. Time heals all wounds for your kind."

I didn't hear anything else after that, by the time I managed to utter the words, "Edward, I'm not human!" he was gone. Having disappeared from my sight.

And I collapsed onto the ground, a gaping hole in my chest, ripping me apart.

I let out a scream of agony, so piercing, birds flew out of the woods for miles, clawing my fingers into the ground, grabbing fistfuls of dirt. Tears tumbled out and the human façade fell, and revealing my true form in the middle of the forest amidst my emotional turmoil.

Edward, the love of my life, had left.

And from what he said, he wasn't coming back.

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><p><strong>AN: I'm really excited about this story and would love some feedback on it. I'll update when I get some reviews, I already have the second chapter written :)**

**-Maddy**


	2. Resolve

Chapter 2: Resolve

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><p><em>I didn't hear anything else after that, by the time I managed to utter the words, "Edward, I'm not human!" he was gone. Having disappeared from my sight.<em>

_And I collapsed onto the ground, a gaping hole in my chest, ripping me apart._

_I let out a scream of agony, so piercing, birds flew out of the woods for miles, clawing my fingers into the ground, grabbing fistfuls of dirt. Tears tumbled out and the human façade fell, and revealing my true form in the middle of the forest amidst my emotional turmoil._

_Edward, the love of my life, had left._

_And from what he said, he wasn't coming back._

~.~.~.

I walked around the house in a stupor for the next few days, unwilling to show my face around town, settling on ruminating over my pain in my true form.

I never knew that he would leave me just as I was about to unleash the biggest secret of my life onto him.

I had never anticipated that this love he said he had for me could vanish just as quick as it appeared.

Edward was overprotective of me—or at least he had been. It was one of the outstanding features in him that I admired with every fiber of my being.

At the same time, I had an incomprehensible _hatred_ for it.

Every time he mentioned the fragility of humans, the gullibility, every time he came to the conclusion single handedly that I was in need of protection, I would feel a flash of indignation. Then again, I had to accept it; it was part of the human façade.

But slowly, as our relationship progressed, I grew used to his nature. I had learned to come to terms with the fact that Edward was the single most protective being on Earth.

And then again, Edward was an Adonis. He was a demi-God carved out of stone and thrown into the 1900s. He was the very essence of perfection and chivalry. And who was I but a mere human to him; a plain Jane; a wall flower; a passing fancy?

It made sense that he didn't love me anymore. We were from two different worlds in his mind. And I was just the girl with a mute mind.

I suppose it really didn't help that we were from two different worlds, just not the way the Cullens thought it was…

Jasper giving into his bloodlust when I got that paper cut was just the catalyst of this all; it had long been coming.

It didn't make sense, not in this life or the next, why Edward would have ever wanted to stay with me.

Charlie kept on buying me an endless supply of vanilla pudding and hot cheetohs, one of the human creations that I had become completely addicted to. It was strange, actually being treated like a human girl going through her first break up. Yet, if the shoe fit…

For a year, Edward had been my life. He was the center of my universe in more ways than just one. I never thought I would get over the monotony of my existence, but then, when I tried to start high school with Charlie, I immediately met five extraordinary beings.

At first, I didn't really know what they were. I had my suspicions, but I never really had a chance to interact with vampires in my life. I had never known any to take a permanent residence or join me in the human façade.

Fate had a funny way of handling things. At first when I saw the black, hateful looks the bronze haired Adonis kept sending my way, I thought he had discovered what I was; after all, I had no idea about the inner workings of his mind. It had turned out, he was just extra sensitive to the potent scent my kind carried when in our human forms.

Then, after an incident in Port Angeles, he saved me, right as I was about to unleash my wrath on some humans for trying to come after me. After that, I got some insight on the vampire named Edward Cullen.

We fell in love: quick and hard. I didn't have a chance to catch my breath as our love grew.

I just couldn't help it, every time I looked into his smoldering eyes, every time I ran my hand through his copper always-untidy hair, every time his lips quirked up into my favorite crooked smile, my heart seemed to flutter and my cheeks blush.

And he was mine, for a time at least.

Because of my stupid decision to hold off telling him I wasn't human, he lost interest in me. Whatever little bond we had going on was as irrevocably and inconceivably broken as I much as I had first thought that what we had was irrevocable and inconceivable.

Now I knew that it was every bit as fickle and imaginable as a common human relationship.

But my mind still strayed to dark places.

As I popped another hot cheetoh into my mouth and stared at the screen of my wheezing computer I entertained the horrible possibilities, _Would he have stayed, had I told him what I was?_

A cynical part of me, a tiny voice, whispered that he would have lost interest anyways. I wasn't that special to be the mate of Edward Cullen. I was just me, Bella—I was a single entity that could no longer hold the attention of something as perfect and viciously beautiful in everyway as a vampire, as a lion could likely mate with a common domestic house cat.

It had been a month since Edward left, and Charlie called Renee, concerned about me.

We had been getting countless calls on the phone from people all over town. Everyone asking what I was doing, and some of the messages on the answering machine was the down right rude and unsolicited advice of some of Fork's parents.

"I know Bella must be going through something, but maybe she should see a therapist if she's in so much pain over the Cullen boy."

"Hi, Chief Swan, it's Angela Webber, is Bella alright? Everyone's been asking."

Calls from the Newtons, the Mallorys, the Stanleys and Yorkies, just about everyone in Forks deemed it necessary to call their Chief to make sure his daughter was doing fine.

"No, I don't think she should join you over there, Phil still hasn't gotten approval to learn of the secret, and I really don't think he ever will with his career," Charlie said firmly.

That was one thing about being what we were. We had a series of higher positions, "desk jobs" you could say, and to tell a human that the supernatural was real, required a hell of a lot of clearance. It was practically unheard of to get approval for a human considering most Guardians, which was what Charlie and Renee were, were usually soul mates that just went through spats every now and then.

I didn't need clearance with the higher ups to tell the Cullens what we were. They were already a part of the supernatural world. So to tell them was like a vampire going up to a child of the Moon and telling them that shape shifters existed. It just wasn't that big of a deal. Of course, vampires didn't know we existed. And once they knew, we usually have to swear them to secrecy.

After all, no one wanted an overzealous vampire to see us in our true forms and decide we looked like a tasty snack.

"But it's not really good for her to be over there, and I'm perfectly capable of keeping her secret while she's over here," Renee kept on, her voice perfectly clear to my ears even though Charlie was talking to her through the phone in the kitchen.

"She refuses to throw on her human mask, Renee. She's convinced that if she had told the Cullens her secret. With all this Ache, I think the higher ups will start questioning."

Everything that they had said since then was something or other about what to do with me.

When I got tired of being spoken about in third person, I flashed down stairs, and Charlie didn't even flinch, having gotten used to seeing my blatant use of my true form.

"We're leaving," I said, my voice not quite the same as when I was human, but something like it.

Charlie turned to me, looking like the fish he usually caught with Billy Black when he didn't have to worry about me. "What are you talking about? Leave? You mean leave Forks?"

I gave a curt nod, "We need a change of location. I can't handle this town anymore, and we obviously can't risk exposing me to Phil, so we'll leave. We can start over. It's not like we can't; we have more than sufficient funds, and enough reason."

He gave a small nod of approval, told Renee, and then started arranging our affairs.

The excuse would be: "Grandpa Swan was sick and needed some extra help in the deep South, so we were moving over there permanently.

A hand gripped my heart as a thought crossed my mind. I took the keys to my truck off of the kitchen counter and mumbled a half-thought out excuse to Charlie.

Quickly, I let my body shift back into its human form, and jumped into my truck. I turned the car on, for what probably would be the last time, and made my way down the same path I had taken on the night of my birthday. My heart was pounding so hard; I thought it might jump out of my mouth.

I might've died from all the horrible scenarios my imagination was concocting; from the house vanishing as Edward had to squatters roosting in the house. I was surprised the house hadn't vanished when I arrived at the Cullen house. I walked inside, slowly, the hole in my chest wide and starting to pulse with all the reminders of a love lost.

Everything was how they had left it, but not a sign of life was present. The glass wall, the gurgling stream just off a few ways, the grand piano was gone though. Everything, except for the things that I supposed were too big to take, was gone.

I don't know what I was doing there. I must've simply stood in the living room of the house for hours without moving, but suddenly, I had the inspiration to write a letter. In case they returned for any reason. It was simple letter:

_To the Cullens:_

_I'm not what you think I am. I'm more like you._

_I. M. S._

By the time I came home, Charlie had a moving van picking up the stuff we were taking, the rest could be sold, I didn't care; as long as we left this small town with all of its festering wounds.

Charlie was leaning against the counter, checking some stuff off.

I stood by him, going over the final details of our move.

"Rich or homey?" he asked, tapping his pencil on the paper rhythmically.

"Upper middle class," I responded, used to the inquisition.

"School?"

I mulled it over. Did I want to go through school again?

On the one hand, it gave me something to work through instead of thinking about him, and it also gave me a chance to explore the school and make new friends. But on the other hand, getting a job and making myself a little older had the same benefits. I could always just pick something in the medical profession and help injured souls that way.

Pursing my lips, I answered, "We can go over that there, once we've scoped out the neighborhood."

He nodded, leaving that box blank. "Now last one, where are we off to?"

That one was clear in my head. "Anchorage, Alaska."

He paused for a second, but nodded again. "Okay then, that's the last of the tiny decisions, all that's left is to get our contact, and completely erase our tracks. I'm sure that'll be easy."

After that, he left me to my own devices.

~.~.~.

"Billy?" I asked surprised, turning around to look at the weathered old man in the wheel chair. "What are you doing here?"

Charlie was just locking up the house, leaving the keys in the mailbox for the realtor, when low-and-behold one of my Guardian's friends came up to us.

"Hey, Bella, I heard you guys were leaving," he said slowly, enunciating every word, as if in shock. He rubbed the back of his neck while he looked at us both.

I peered around him and spotted his son Jacob jogging up to join all of us, having parked his car a bit farther down the road.

Charlie intervened, before I could start an awkward conversation. "Yeah, we have some money saved up and Grandpa Swan is pretty sick so we have to go help him out some. Renee's gonna meet us up when we get to the house."

"Really? Where you moving to?" Billy asked.

I hazarded a glance at Charlie as he spoke. "Down south, we thought it'd be nice to see the sun for once. You know, don't get much of it up here."

The whole time Jacob was staring heatedly at me, as if he wanted to say something, but it was caught in his throat.

I never really got the chance to talk with him, but Charlie was always over at their house for some reason or another, watching a game or attending a bonfire. It was the social life he had built in this town. We had to keep some sort of contact with them. There were rumors that the people of La Push had some sort of spiritual background that garnered the attention of my kind.

"Is something wrong Jacob?" I asked, tucking a lock of loose brown hair behind my ear.

He seemed to have lost the struggle he was having, because right then he burst, "What _are_ you, Bella?"

Well, _crap._

All color drained out of Charlie's face as he said, "I think we had better discuss this inside. He unlocked the door, and ushered the Blacks in.

I grit my teeth, a delay in our getaway.

We sat down around the coffee table, we weren't going to take it, it wouldn't fit in with the new act we were going to put up in Anchorage.

There was a pregnant pause in which all of us were looking at each other, not knowing where to start.

Finally, after a long while, I addressed Jacob, taking note of the shadows rolling about in his eyes. "What did you see Jacob?"

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><p><strong>AN: Oh my! Jacob makes an entrance! What will happen now? Review please :)**


	3. WonderWolf and Angel Eyes

Chapter 3: Jacob and Seth

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><p>"<em>Is something wrong Jacob?" I asked, tucking a lock of loose brown hair behind my ear.<em>

_He seemed to have lost the struggle he was having, because right then he burst, "What are you, Bella?"_

_Well, crap._

_All color drained out of Charlie's face as he said, "I think we had better discuss this inside. He unlocked the door, and ushered the Blacks in._

_I grit my teeth, a delay in our getaway._

_We sat down around the coffee table, we weren't going to take it, it wouldn't fit in with the new act we were going to put up in Anchorage._

_There was a pregnant pause in which all of us were looking at each other, not knowing where to start._

_Finally, after a long while, I addressed Jacob, taking note of the shadows rolling about in his eyes. "What did you see Jacob?"_

* * *

><p>He looked at me in his big t-shirt and cut-off jeans, jittery. Which I guess is what would be expected considering he didn't know if I was "good or evil." His whole body screamed that he should get the hell away from us, we weren't normal, but at the same time he wanted to stay. He was freaked out by the supernatural bit of it, but my kind usually have a comforting air around us that really makes it easy for humans to gain our trust.<p>

Then again, how human were the people of La Push? There had to be something. Something that was worthy of both the attention of vampires and my people.

After another silent minute, I asked again, "Jacob, can you please tell us?"

Charlie intervened here with his authoritative cop voice, "I don't think you understand the situation, Jacob. Anything you could've seen, well, it can be bad news for both you and us. It would be best if you told us what happened, son."

He squirmed and Billy told him to get on with it.

"Well, I don't really know what I saw. But Seth and I were walking around in the forest, just running around. Sue and Harry were fighting with their daughter Leah or something, and we just took off, away from the rez," he frowned, probably regretting the decision to have ever left the reservation.

"And well, we just talked a bit, Seth's a good kid, hyper as hell, but he's a good kid. Sam's cult has been eyeing him lately though so I just thought it would be good to give him some words of advice to stay the hell away from them.

"We were just rough housing a bit, you know? Guy stuff. We came pretty close to your house Charlie, and then we saw it. Bella, you have _wings!_ Huge, birdy, flapping _wings._ And not the Halloween one's from Party City either," he paused here, he looked sheepish for going off rambling like he did, "It was so freaking cool, but, at the same time, it was the saddest thing I've ever seen. Then you gave the loudest screech ever, and it felt like I had swimmer's ear for a while, but it also could have been the strange cold I've had…"

I stared at him steadily, unmoving, seeing the clues patch up together in his eyes. "What am I Jacob?" I whispered, the words falling off my lips, but the voice I heard in my head was much more attractive and smooth to my ears.

He turned to look at Billy, who looked just as grave as Charlie, then turned back to me. "Bella, are you a Cold One?"

My mouth dropped open and I stared at him in shock.

Then I burst into loud, roaring laughter, squinting my eyes shut as tears fell down my eyes. Charlie was slapping his knee, snorting and cackling so much that his face was nearly purple. Even Billy was chuckling a bit.

I wiped a tear away from my cheek with the heel of my palm, flashing Jacob a smile. "No, Jacob, I most certainly am not."

But then I noticed he was trembling so much he was vibrating, his eyes flashing in anger. First it started with his hands, which were curled up into fists coiled so tight, you could name every muscle in his hand from just looking at it. Then it moved up to his elbows, forearms legs until his whole body seemed to blur.

"Why are you people laughing?" he growled, gritting his teeth so hard I could practically feel it.

"Everyone back up!" Billy ordered, "Jake, get outside, now!"

Jacob ran outside, a blur to my eyes in human form, and I heard a very loud tearing sound, followed by the padding of feet on ground and a loud painful howl.

My head snapped around to Billy, flashing in anger, "Billy, explain. _Now._"

~.~.~

I ran a hand through my hair, "So, wolves, huh? Never would have guessed it."

Billy nodded and Charlie grabbed two Bud Lights and a coke from a cooler we had set up for the drive to Anchorage. (I had planned to drive, so we were good on the no drinking and driving law.) He passed me the coke and the beer to Billy.

"I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised," Charlie admitted, taking a gulp from his drink. "I mean, you guys are always talking about spirit wolves at the bonfires, and I already knew something was up with you guys. I was sent here for a reason."

"Sent, what do you mean?" Billy asked.

I shook my head, "That's not a good topic for now. I think we should go find Jacob. I don't really want him wreaking havoc all over the town just as we leave. It'll look suspicious."

Billy shook his head, "He's prolly on the rez, with Sam and the rest of the pack. Most likely getting ready for Seth to shift soon, too."

"Alrighty then, let's go join them," Charlie said, standing up and pushing Billy's wheelchair out the front door. "After all, we have a lot to talk about. And some plans to iron out if you guys are gonna know about us."

By the time we arrived back to Billy's house, Seth, Jacob and a huge man named Sam were already there.

I nodded my greeting at them and then sat down with Charlie in the tiny living room. I didn't think all of us would fit, let alone Sam and Jacob who I could've sworn sprouted two more inches in the hour he was gone.

Jacob and Sam had wary looks on their faces while Seth seemed to be scared out of his mind of me. I sighed, "There's no reason for you two be scared of me, I don't bite. And I'm not a Cold One."

I ran a hand through my brunette hair while I stared at them, "My kind are called Angels by English speaking societies. We are the balance between the Earth's supernatural creatures and species. Charlie here and his wife Renee, are my Guardians, they was made an Angel after a series of events occurred while they were alive. I am a Seraph of the first degree, I was created and born an Angel, rather than transformed as Charlie and Renee."

I didn't want to go into too much detail about the degrees and Angels and everything that went along with my kind, so I "neglected" to tell them any of the more gruesome parts of being an Angel.

Not to mention why I screeched so loudly that day in the forest, in any event, even La Push had heard of my break up with Edward.

I gave them a weary smile, "But no one must know this. Which is why, I am sorry to say that since you two," I looked at Seth and Jacob meaningfully. "Have seen my true form, I have no other choice than to take you with me, to Anchorage."

At that point, everyone besides Charlie and myself began yelling.

I grimaced and stared at the ceiling, waiting for them to get all their complaints out of their system. When they saw Charlie and I weren't going to retaliate, we began again.

"We're not going to kill you," Charlie said, a frown on his lips as he swept his gaze around the cramped room. "Its just protocol. If you are truly shape shifters, than seeing Bella's true form might have some adverse affects on your psyche. You'll come with us for the span of a year, we'll observe you, and if no significant symptoms arise, then we'll release you back to your lives here in La Push."

I nodded, "I understand this might still be knew to you, but we've been dealing with the this situation more than a dozen times over the course of human existence. It'd be in your best interest to come with us, where we'll be able to recognize symptoms faster than humans or your own kind, and we will have the means to treat anything at a moments notice." I threw in a smile t the end of this.

Billy still looked thoroughly furious, a little vein near his cowboy hat pulsing purple, "Get out!" he roared.

Not ones to really cause a scene, Charlie and I got up and reached the door when we hear a faint "Wait!"

We both turned around to see Seth looking at us desperately.

"What's the worst case scenario? If we do get sick and we don't go?" Seth suddenly said, looking fairly nervous, yet he seemed strangely excited.

I bit my lip and looked to Charlie for help. When he gave none I finally said, "You'll die, in a sense. It's a complicated situation."

"Well, that settles it, I don't care what the hell my parents say, I'm going with!" he exclaimed. "I don't have super wolfy powers like these two"—he jerked his thumb at Sam and Jacob, who struggled to keep their grins down at his phrasing—"and I don't want to die. Plus, I think all of this Angel and supernatural stuff is absolutely EPIC! And I want to know as much as I can so I can go all kung-fu Panda on the baddies."

I flashed him a grim smile, "It's not that easy, Seth."

Behind him, walked up Jacob.

"You twerp, how the hell do you even know there are baddies?" Jacob muttered to him.

That's something I would have to get used to. Werewolf mood swings. I was about two seconds away from getting whiplash from all the changes in moods from the wolf boy.

"Hey, the legends were right about the wolves, so they must be right about the Cold Ones and every other baddie they've ever mentioned, right Bella?" he asked, grinning at me.

I gave a tentative nod, his enthusiasm spreading to me. If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was an empath. "Yes, there are certain 'baddies' in this world. Same as there are criminals in the human world. I would be fine with teaching you about it, Seth."

"Alright then! Now, all I gotta do is call mom!"

I frowned, "I honestly don't think that will work out. We'll figure something else out, Seth, Jacob. My interest is ensuring you survive should anything happen, but I'll make this work out for the best, okay?"

~.~.~

Charlie and I had stayed the night around Billy's house, stalking around until Jacob crawled out of his window and met up with us. We quickly shifted our bodies to our natural forms—in Jacob's case, he simply ran—and just sprinted to the Clearwater residence.

And I slowly let my feelings unleash.

See, through out the day, I made a point of hiding the need to close myself off and just ignore life.

And sometimes I would just find myself wondering, "What would the Cullens think if they saw this?"

And with it brought this numbness that reminded me that Edward wasn't here.

At one point, Charlie offered to buy me an iPod, music had always calmed me down over the years, but when he did a crippling pain took over my heart, as if a red-hot poker were poking the organ and frying it while it was still beating, and I told him no.

Music just reminded me of him, and his collection of CDs, his piano…

But finally, the sun peaked over and Charlie and me decided it was time to don the human façade so as not to have to take all of La Push with us to Anchorage.

Two hours before dawn broke over the horizon, Seth climbed out of his own room, carrying a huge bag of luggage with him. Charlie quickly grabbed his luggage and I swung Seth onto my back and set off at a breakneck speed to the van we had rented.

When we actually managed to set off on the road, I was a bit conflicted.

What would the wolves do once they figured out what we had done?

Would they discover us?

But then again, we had told them that we were heading for the Deep South, surely that would deter them from coming after us.

Once we actually managed to get onto the rented truck and get settled on our way to Anchorage, I calmed down just a tad.

And Seth was chattering like no other, much to my amusement. He was like the little brothers I saw humans with all the time, but never really thought of wanting.

Surprisingly, I found his enthusiasm for talking about things endearing. He was adorable and adventurous, and it was just so damn cute.

Jacob made things interesting, acting like an older brother or something to Seth, causing us all to laugh on the way to Alaska.

But when we finally made it after two days of driving and pit stops, we couldn't have been more relieved.

Charlie wrapped his arm around my shoulder as we looked up at our new house, "Welcome home, Bells."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Review :) It makes me update faster :) REVIEWS ARE LOVE**


	4. Seraphs and Cherubs

**Chapter 4 Seraphs and Cherubs**

* * *

><p>The house we were settling into was huge, but Charlie told me it only had four rooms.<p>

We didn't have neighbors for miles, unless you really wanted to count the woodland creatures like Seth did.

The house was huge, three times the size of the one Charlie and I owned back in Forks. It had white panels covering it from bottom to top, until it reached the black tiled roof. It had large windows on every end of it. A few of the windows had decorative iron bars around them, making the house seem a bit standoffish to the common bystander.

The driveway itself had trees on either end that leaned tiredly over the road and cast it in darkness and in addition to that was cobbled. At the entrance of the house was a big gothic gate with vines wrapping aroud it in an artistic manner.

The landscapers had really outdone themselves, having planted foliage everywhere on the property, fountains here and there, and I could spot a large greenhouse at the back of the property extending into the acres upon acres that made up our backyard.

All in all, it seemed like we were living in a Stephen King-ish mansion.

The boxes from the moving vans were already inside the garage, safe from the weather and we paid the movers handsomely for managing to maneuver some of the heavier boxes into the house without breaking anything.

I pulled my jacket around myself as a cold breeze ruffled us; a couple of brown, crispy leaves getting caught in my long hair.

"You're not cold?" I asked Jacob when I saw that he was cowering from the cold like the rest of us. He was just standing there, gaping at the house with his eyes bugged out like a cartoon character.

He shook his head, "Wolves run at a toasty one-oh-eight degrees Fahrenheit."

"Dang!" Seth said, bouncing around to poke Jacob's cheek. "You is on FIRE, man!"

Jacob playfully growled and grabbed Seth in a headlock while Charlie and I laughed at the scene.

"Bells! Save me! Before Jacob's dog slobber gets on me!"

~.~.~

The first night in the house, we all roosted in the living room on inflatable mattresses, eating Chinese food.

I was in the middle off arguing with Jacob on the proper way to grab food with chopsticks—he thought impaling the food on his chopsticks was effective, while I primly ate the proper way with them—when Seth asked me a particular question.

"Hey, Bells, do you have like superpower as an angel?" he asked, completely unabashed, a noodle from his pork chow mein hanging over the corner of his lips and stuck to his darkly tanned skin.

I nearly laughed at the way he phrased the question, but answered honestly. "Yes. Other than being able to fly? We have a few tricks up our sleeves, some on par with your legends of the Cold Ones. Strength, speed, enhanced senses—tons of stuff given to us as we progress through time and prove ourselves to the Big Guns upstairs."

"And it also depends on your degree of Angel," Charlie added, grinning. "I'm a Guardian, a step down from a Seraph like Bells here. I protect her and act as her bodyguard. I advise and take care of her affairs."

"But for all intents and purposes, Charlie is my dad. He helps me with the big decisions and makes sure to keep me informed of things that occur wherever we may be," I said, smiling at Charlie, laughing as he stuck his tongue out at me.

"Hey, you act like I'm older than you!"

I rolled my eyes, "So what? I'm not the Guardian in this relationship, _grandpappy Charlie._"

He blushed a bright crimson.

Jacob's eyebrows furrowed, looking funny on his monstrous body. "Wait, you're _older_ than Charlie?"

"Yep," I popped the 'p.' "I was born an Angel at the beginning of time, Charlie didn't really come along until roughly the third millennium of the human timeline."

"Huh?" Seth said. "But we're only in the second millennium"—his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates—"Charlie you're from the _future?"_

"No," he shook his head. "What Bella means is the third millennium before common era. Roughly five thousand years ago in Crete, during the reign of Minos."

"The civilization rumored to have the Minotaur in a maze," I explained to them gently, seeing their stunned expressions.

"But wait, if you're that old and Bella's older, then…" Jacob said, chopsticks having fallen from his hand onto his paper plate, a pepper steak still impaled on it.

"Since the dawn of time. I'm one of the oldest living beings on this earth," I said softly. "But don't be fooled by the age, I wasn't allowed on Earth until I got a Guardian, AKA, Charlie."

Jacob whistled, "Damn Bella, you're a damn walking fossil."

And there began the howling laughter again.

We settled into sleep that night, and for the first time since…_him_ and his family, I looked forward to the new day.

Life in the house was lively, to say the least.

The boys never gave me a moment to myself. If I wasn't being yanked out of the house to romp around in the snow with them, I was in the kitchen making enough food to feed an army or I was teaching the boys about my world and all the rules that came with it.

I had a feeling Charlie had managed to convince them to not leave me alone, that way, I wouldn't have time to mourn the loss of _him_ and his family.

So, I enjoyed myself, running everywhere with my two new best friends. But that's not to say everything in out lives was fine and dandy.

One time, while we were walking through a store, I heard the soft tune of a piano playing Chopin's _Grand Valse Brillante _and nearly burst into tears right there and then. Jacob had picked me up on his back and jogged back to the car, where Seth floundered trying to cheer me up, resorting to bad knock-knock jokes to soothe me.

It was one of the first times since _he_ left that I felt the hole in my chest rip open, feeling the pain and agony gushing out of me like a water tank with a giant puncture in the middle.

I scared the boys so much, that it took me a while to convince them to let me out of the house again.

From then on, they carried big, expensive bumblebee yellow shooting-range earmuffs in a backpack just in case we walked into any place that happened to have music.

It was almost laughable how careful they were with me.

The first time they heard me wake up screaming pure agony and thrashing, Seth ran into my room with a huge two-by-four held over his head wearing a faded red Power Ranger's shirt and SpongeBob boxers, and bopped Jacob in the head by accident as he had ran right behind Seth, wielding the first weapon he had found—a can of air freshener.

Once they were over their injuries (a short three seconds) they rushed over to me and hugged me, wiping away my tears and trying to get me to calm down.

When we woke up that morning, my arms were wrapped around Seth's shoulders and Jacob was knocked out with his head against my back and a line of drool falling from his lips as he hugged one of my pillows.

Charlie had known better and had put in earplugs the night before, so he was chipper as ever, making coffee while we glared at him with circles under our eyes.

Needless to say, he didn't find his earplugs the next night.

The day of reckoning came when Charlie gave us some not so nice news the next day.

"You guys are going to school!" he said, clapping his hands together.

All movement stopped in my industrial sized kitchen.

School.

Really?

"No way, José!" Seth said, making an 'X' in front of his chest with his arms, his dark brown eyes frightened. "I'm sooo not going back to school. I'm thirteen for pete's sake, I can do without school for a while longer!"

I rolled my eyes at Seth's sad excuse for a reason, "Yeah, I wonder what you're mom will say when we tell her you dropped out of school."

Seth shut up and blanched immediately with a tiny squeak.

Jacob on the other hand was glaring steadily, "I don't need school. I'm going to be a mechanic! I don't need to know Geometry!"

This one I could concede.

Charlie saved me from agreeing though, "Actually, you would benefit greatly. It would be very great to be able to carry on an intelligible conversation with your customers when they came around, maybe learn a couple languages to widen your range of possible clientele."

I smiled at that, seeing how both boys seemed scared now. I tucked a lock of my brown hair behind my ear, "Looks like you guys have no choice."

They didn't miss the smug look on my face, "What? Why doesn't Bell have to go to school?"

Charlie cocked an eyebrow at me, chocolate eyes mischievous. "Who said she isn't? I enrolled her at Anchorage Academy along with you boys."

I gaped at Charlie; I was pretty sure my eyes were spitting fire at him.

Traitor.

So the week after, Jacob, Seth and I found ourselves driving to Anchorage Academy. I had to wrangle them both into some decent and clean polos. I had managed to convince Jacob to comb his shoulder-length hair into a ponytail at the base of his neck. I couldn't really do anything with Seth's impossibly messy hair, so we just settled on getting him dressed nicely.

I had changed my appearance a bit, opting to give in to my urges. So I had shifted into a form fit to drain a bear dry of blood.

Jacob and Charlie had cocked their eyebrows quite a bit when they saw me with golden eyes and pale, rock hard skin.

"Isn't this a bit unhealthy?" Jacob asked, tweaking my nose. "I mean, I know you miss them, but this is going overboard, Bells."

Seth just laughed, "I think it's cool! Bella you look so kick-ass"—Charlie smacked him on the shoulder muttering, "_Language!"—_"Let her live a little."

Personally, I thought Charlie was just a bit concerned about my mental well-being.

But I was slowly walking away from my life in Forks. I still woke up screaming and thrashing in bed, I still couldn't stand the sound of music (Jacob and Seth each had earmuffs in their backpacks, in case the school decided to play music for whatever reason) but how could I not try to enjoy life with Seth and Jacob as my ray's of light during a dark new moon?

It was next to impossible to ignore either of them, their laughs were too infectious, the twinkle they got in their eyes when they were going to pull a prank too funny, and their caring nature was just way too heart-warming to simply shove off.

So I shrugged and gave in to one of my curious thoughts. How _did_ it feel to be a vampire in high school?

Turns out, I would regret my decision to alter my appearance.

Looking like a vampire in school, even an animal drinker, just garnered way-too much attention to make me comfortable.

But some whispers caught my attention, "She looks kind of like Adaminna Colburn and Antoine Prideaux."

Those two names always came up in conversation whenever I entered a classroom.

When third period English came around, I finally got to see them.

They were easy to point out, sitting in the back of the classroom, isolated from the rest of the humans.

Adaminna had dark blonde ringlets that fell down to her hips, and a strange olive skin tone that seemed odd against her the paleness of her skin. She had full purplish-pink lips that seemed to settle into a natural pout, and a medium aristocratic nose. From where I was standing, she seemed incredibly small compared to the man she was sitting next to.

Her mate, from what I could gather, was tall, with what I could only assume was the same russet colored skin Jacob and Seth had, but almost muted with a bloodless quality. He had short curly hair that was cropped close to his skull and was skinny but had muscles that snugly encased the bones of his arms.

All this, I noted in the first millisecond in which I had entered the classroom.

The next millisecond, their eyes snapped up to stare at me, and I was shocked by the color of Colburn's eyes. A bright, decidedly _human_ blue color. A little annoying click in my head reminded me of just what _she _was.

Cherub.

When I shifted to look at Prideaux, I saw a golden glare being directed my way.

Just my luck, I decide to look like a vampire to a school where there already was a vampire.

Great.

I took my schedule back from the teacher and sat next to them in the back, where the male kept aiming predatory glances at me, his eyes shifting to black in an eighth of a second.

Colburn poked her head around her mate, looking at me curiously, her blue eyes haunting me.

She wiggled her fingers at me, flashing me a smile with perfect, small white teeth.

Her mate moved to cover her as soon as I gave a small smile back.

"What are you?" he growled, too low for human ears, his voice carrying a deep bell-like quality.

I answered his questions with my own, "What is your mate?"

"We can talk later," Colburn chirped cheerfully, reminding me of someone else I knew. "When there aren't as much humans around."

And so, we settled into a tense silence.

The teacher, Mr. Abernathy, droned on and on about the story we were going to go over, _Tristan and Isolde_. All the while, I had to remind myself to fidget a bit.

When my kind shifted into a different form, we adapted everything about the anatomy and physiology of the species we shifted into, save for out scents. Our scents always remained. Permanently enticing to one of the world's most dangerous predators, Vampires.

I tapped my pencil on the desk, watching the clock, willing it to move faster for the inevitable meeting.

When the bell rang, all three of us had gathered our things and taken off way before the rest of the class, walking a bit too fast for humans.

We appeared in the lunchroom. It was a plain room with murals of the school mascot, a white tiger, on the walls and posters of the food pyramid, Teachers Against Drunk Driving and other posters all over the room. There were long rectangle tables at the very beginning, then morphed into little, private circular tables at the end of the cafeteria where the lights were a bit brighter.

Then the showdown began as soon as I sat down at the same table as the mysterious vampire and cherub.

Jacob and Seth found me soon after I sat down; wielding trays piled sky high with food. Sensing my anxious mood, they sat down quietly, giving me questioning looks. Jacob even covered his nose a bit.

"Well, I think introductions are in order, I'm Adaminna Colburn," she flashed another grin, extending her hand, "This is my mate, Antoine Colburn."

I took her hand, which was slightly warm and just now I noticed the shimmery quality her skin gave off. "Bella Swan, and these are my companions, Seth Clearwater and Jacob Black."

Antoine flashed his teeth, "Why do you have a wolf with you? He reeks."

Jacob scowled, "Hey man, at least I don't smell like someone poured a gallon of bleach over my head."

"Well then," Adaminna said, her mouth quirking up. "I believe now that we're talking about species…" she looked pointedly at me.

"I'm a Seraph, first degree," I said. "Seth's human and Jacob is a wolf. And yourself, Adaminna?"

"Please, call me Mina," she placed her hand on Antoine's hand and he relaxed. "I'm a Cherub, first degree. Antoine is a vegetarian vampire and my Guardian."

My mouth dropped open.

A vampire?

As a guardian?

~.~.~

At the same time, somewhere in the globe, Alice was getting a vision.

One of a winged creatures and Bella.


	5. Red Hair

Chapter 5: Red Hair

* * *

><p>"<em>Well, I think introductions are in order, I'm Adaminna Colburn," she flashed another grin, extending her hand, "This is my mate, Antoine Colburn."<em>

_I took her hand, which was slightly warm and just now I noticed the shimmery quality her skin gave off. "Bella Swan, and these are my companions, Seth Clearwater and Jacob Black."_

_Antoine flashed his teeth, "Why do you have a wolf with you? He reeks."_

_Jacob scowled, "Hey man, at least I don't smell like someone poured a gallon of bleach over my head."_

"_Well then," Adaminna said, her mouth quirking up. "I believe now that we're talking about species…" she looked pointedly at me._

"_I'm a Seraph, first degree," I said. "Seth's human and Jacob is a wolf. And yourself, Adaminna?"_

"_Please, call me Mina," she placed her hand on Antoine's hand and he relaxed. "I'm a Cherub, first degree. Antoine is a vegetarian vampire and my Guardian."_

_My mouth dropped open. _

_A vampire?_

_As a guardian?_

_~.~.~_

I invited Mina and "Ant", as Mina had insisted, over to the house on the weekend. That way, the boys wouldn't be too swamped with homework and be able to hear anything they might want to hear from them first hand.

Of course, they both bombarded me with questions about Cherubs and Seraphs when we got home. So I tried to mollify them.

Seraphs were older, more adult looking angels who fought in wars.

Cherubs were child-like in appearance and had abilities to assist seraphs in war.

And after that came the three degrees, the Guardians, the Nephilim and the Fallen.

It was this whole mess of hierarchy and royalty that I really didn't want to get into with the boys, but I had promised.

Maybe I shouldn't promise things like that anymore.

In any event, when Tuesday came around, Charlie declared it a Family Restaurant day.

So, we all piled into our red SUV and drove around town for a while, looking for a suitable place to munch in.

We passed some decrepit diners that would probably have cockroaches skittering around and leaking, mildewed pipes; then some rinky-dink restaurants that would probably cost some their entire annual salary to ever afford, maybe even a second mortgage on their house; and finally we came to a tiny restaurant that just screamed out HOME with it's checkered yellow and white curtains.

A big sign in loopy handwriting said, "Molly's Kitchen" with the caricature of a woman with orangey hair smiling a big red-lipped smile.

The inside was homey. It had round steel tables with cherry red tabletops, and brightly colored, glossed wooden chairs; in the back, were lines of booths with equally bright coloring.

I grinned the moment we saw it, while Jacob rubbed his eyes and complained about all the _color_.

I grabbed his arm while flashing him a smirk and walked forward till we met up with a charming waitress with a crook in her nose and a mole on the tip of her nose. "Hi, I'm Tina, if you give me a name and the number of people your with, I'll seat you in a moment, darling."

I gave her a shy grin in return and said, "Swann, and there's four people with me."

She nodded and wrote it down quickly on a clipboard.

While we waited, I sat down and listened to the latest babblings of the one and only Seth Clearwater.

Today's subject: How cool it'd be to have supernatural powers.

"I mean really, if I could at least have super speed or something, I could get things done super quick and do all my homework super fast and help out if you guys need something instead of being limited to doing everything at a _human_ pace," he wrinkled his nose up on the word "human."

I laughed at him while Jacob said, "But then you'd be bored without anything to do, imagine that! You're already and annoying kid at human pace, jeez," he groaned, imagining it. "I'd probably want to commit suicide," he muttered so low only Charlie and I heard.

We both laughed and Seth looked around seeing us all laughing, "Aw dang, I just missed something again. See? That's why being human absolutely _sucks!_"

"Alright super boy, go dip yourself in some toxic waste and get back to us on how that works out," I laughed, my hair falling into my face just as the waitress called "Swann, party of four."

"You kidding me? Harry Clearwater would sooner put me on a spit and roast me if he finds out what we're encouraging the kid to do," Charlie said, passing his hand over his mustache, hiding his smile sneakily.

Seth pouted and complained the whole time that they took us to our table.

We looked like a happy family the whole way to the table, laughing, goofing off, Charlie had even shifted so he looked like a vampire to go along with the act that he was my dad and family friend of the boys.

But I always had the cloud hanging over my head, if only partially when I had my guys around me, picking me up from the depths of Hell.

Almost always, I found myself wondering "what if…?" for some reason or another.

The hole in my chest was always omnipresent in my life. Whether I was with the boys when it was the faintest, or at night when everyone slept with ear plugs to sleep peacefully while I thrashed in bed screaming.

Thing was, for an angel, pain was amplified. To the point that the Big Guns Upstairs gave it the title of The Ache; with all capitals, it was that horrific.

That's why Charlie encouraged the boys to help me out, why I was barely given a moment's of rest.

The Ache could kill my kind.

The Ache, basically, was that stupid feeling of being ripped straight down the middle, pried open, intestines and organs yanked out and basically being eviscerated alive, blood washing the ground in your life source.

Only thing was it swept across the terrain like crazy if you heard an angel cry or suffer The Ache. Eventually, they died.

Literally. Died of heartache.

It was bull if I ever heard it, and when I was younger I couldn't believe it was even possible until I saw an angel die first hand of The Ache.

He had fallen in love with a human from a distance.

But it was around the bubonic plague.

The human died.

And the Angel was murdered by his human's death.

First his wails of pain, then his feathers fell off, turning black, and the appendages that were his wings started oozing with yellow-green pus and wounds that festered appeared out of nowhere, until his wings fell off, bloody stumps.

At that point, his eyes were dull, and I couldn't take anymore.

He begged me to kill him.

But I turned away, unable to go against my nature to protect and preserve life.

He died the next day, turning into an almost glittering ash that rose up into the sky where it disappeared.

It was so disturbing; I had nightmares for weeks and was completely distraught.

I refused to come out of hiding until the plague was over, I didn't want to risk seeing that again.

In any event, I shook my head from my depressing thoughts and tried to join in on the conversation that was going on with my boys.

For a long while I wondered how in Hell the angel could get so attached to a human of all people, how he could let himself die that way?

I understood now. I understood all too well now thanks to a certain vampire.

The love of an angel for anything was far too great to compare to anything. And it could equally make their existence, as it could completely destroy

After all, a little sunshine would always save the day for me.

I refused to waste away. No matter how much I wanted to, my pride wouldn't let me.

I passed a hand over my hair, letting a sigh leave my lips, when I saw movement in the corner of my eye, disappearing behind the checkered curtains of the restaurant.

A flash of bright, perfect, red hair.

~.~.~

The next day, all I could think about was the red hair in the window.

The inhuman perfectness of the hair and the weird way the light caught on the curls just screamed to me vampire.

And for that, I think the itsy-bitsy pieces of my sanity that were left over tried to commit suicide in my head from the mind-blowing migraine I was suffering.

I mean, on a scale of one to ten, the pain was around a twelve. It felt like someone cheerfully busted my head open, gray matter hitting the walls on impact, and as if my eyeballs were about to burst out of my head and roll away on the floor.

Really. A vampire.

I thought I had completely gotten been thrown out of the vampire world, but no, of course not.

One of them had to come back and haunt my every waking moment.

The cosmos really had it in for me, with all the bull they sent my way.

I didn't sleep at all the night after we came from dinner. I stalked up and down the house, even going so far as to walk outside barefoot and run around the perimeter of the house, trying to sniff out any unusual scents.

But honestly, we were in a new town. I don't really know how much I expected to find considering the entire town was foreign territory to me.

So when I saw the sun peeking over the horizon announcing the arrival of dawn, I retreated back inside and got ready.

The guys weren't too concerned, I was known for being a bit of a recluse with my recent loss. So they threw half-hearted jokes, The Ache a bit too strong for them to wade through to help me out

And I was just fine with that. I'd consult Charlie, then ask Mina Colburn and Ant Prideaux if they knew of any other vampires in the area.

To hell if I was going to play the defenseless human act. I was designed to defend and fight, not to cower behind those who were supposedly stronger than me.

When I got to English, I walked a bit too fast for humans and asked Ant and Mina a quick question.

"Hi, you guys are the only vampires here, right?" I asked fast, eyes darting to the front of the class to make sure that the teacher was still fumbling around with the projector for what would probably be a mundane lecture on grammar.

Mina's unsettling blue eyes landed on Ant, doe-eyed and scared. "I have no idea, are there anymore vampires in Anchorage, Ant?"

In an instant, the tough-guy thing that Ant had kept up around me dissolved and he held her hand reassuringly, sharing a look with her that almost shattered my heart.

Then he turned to me, gold eyes set in pale russet skin practically spitting fire, "My gift is to 'see' supernatural beings around me…I can't say I've felt anyone in the immediate area for sure, Mina and I went hunting a bit further down south last night, and we've tried to stay out of town for a while. The only other coven around here is two hundred sixty miles away in Denali, and they're animal drinkers. Are you sure it was a vampire? Do you have a particular description in mind?"

It was the most I had heard him speak in the day I had met him; he had a deep voice, with a very slight almost Hispanic accent underneath.

I nodded, "Dark red hair. Looked like flames. Curly. Definitely a female vampire, and most likely a human drinker." I said the last part though it frightened me a bit. All I had been accustomed to were vegetarians, and the few human-drinkers I encountered wanted to kill me in human form.

That and I was a protector by nature and thinking about people dying like that, unnerved me, even though in my heart of hearts I knew it was very much the equivalent of a human eating a juicy, seared steak.

He nodded, "I'll keep a look out and scout around for the threat tonight. I doubt it's the Denali coven, they're blonde and don't meet your description."

Mina whimpered a bit in her throat and grabbed onto his bicep—huge compared to her child-like hand—and gave him a heartbreaking look, dirty blonde ringlets falling around her.

Ant gave her a tentative look and then turned back to me. "Do you mind staying with Mina tonight? I don't want to risk leaving her alone. We've had bad experiences with being separated."

I nodded, smiling faintly, "I know what you mean. Sure, I'm going to ask my Guardian to accompany you, I hope you don't mind."

He shook his head, "No, it's no problem. It'll make it easier to cover more ground far more thoroughly."

"Be safe?" Mina asked in a tiny voice, her eyes watery.

Ant nodded, squeezing her hand.

"Hey, don't worry," I pulled a modified card from my days in Forks, from my former best friend. "We can have a movie night, my companions are a riot, trust me."

She tried to return my smile but it came out more like a grimace. "Thank you."

~.~.~

_At the same time, somewhere in the globe, Alice was getting a vision._

_One of a winged creatures and Bella._

Alice didn't know what to make of the vision she had, so she had turned to her husband and consulted with him.

He had no idea of what she was talking about and couldn't find a thing in his almost two hundred years of experience to assist her, so with a soft kiss, he told her that Carlisle might have more information on her vision.

And when she blurred over to his study in their house in Fairbanks, he looked at her with glazed over eyes.

"Are you sure you saw winged creatures Alice?" he asked softly, setting down the pen he had been using to finish some charts from the hospital.

She nodded, her short spikes looking almost comical as they blurred with her movement. "Not a doubt in my mind. Feathers, beauty, and Bella."

Carlisle winced.

Bella, the daughter he had left in Forks.

It left a bad taste in his mouth to think of how they had abandoned her to acquiesce Edward's need to protect her.

He thought that Edward was going to come to his senses and realize that Jasper was not at fault for the birthday party incident. No one was. It was natural to react the way he had, and Bella came out alive and in tact.

He had thought that his first son would snap out of it and return to Forks for her, but he didn't. He left for Rio after mumbling some nonsensical gibberish about red hair and some expletives that Esme would probably crucify him for saying in front of the "children."

"Carlisle, what were those things? I swear I think Bella had _wings!_"

And that is when Carlisle dropped everything he was doing and ordered Alice to call Edward back from his mindless journey, and Emmett and Rosalie from their umpteenth honeymoon.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Got five reviews last chappy. :) Let's try for six, kay? The Cullens are in for a shit load of surprises next chapter :) Review and I update faster! **


	6. NotSo Bedtime Story

Chapter 6: Not-So Bedtime Stories

* * *

><p><em>Alice didn't know what to make of the vision she had, so she had turned to her husband and consulted with him.<em>

_He had no idea of what she was talking about and couldn't find a thing in his almost two hundred years of experience to assist her, so with a soft kiss, he told her that Carlisle might have more information on her vision._

_And when she blurred over to his study in their house in Fairbanks, he looked at her with glazed over eyes._

"_Are you sure you saw winged creatures Alice?" he asked softly, setting down the pen he had been using to finish some charts from the hospital. _

_She nodded, her short spikes looking almost comical as they blurred with her movement. "Not a doubt in my mind. Feathers, beauty, and Bella."_

_Carlisle winced._

_Bella, the daughter he had left in Forks._

_It left a bad taste in his mouth to think of how they had abandoned her to acquiesce Edward's need to protect her._

_He thought that Edward was going to come to his senses and realize that Jasper was not at fault for the birthday party incident. No one was. It was natural to react the way he had, and Bella came out alive and in tact._

_He had thought that his first son would snap out of it and return to Forks for her, but he didn't. He left for Rio after mumbling some nonsensical gibberish about red hair and some expletives that Esme would probably crucify him for saying in front of the "children."_

"_Carlisle, what were those things? I swear I think Bella had wings!"_

_And that is when Carlisle dropped everything he was doing and ordered Alice to call Edward back from his mindless journey, and Emmett and Rosalie from their umpteenth honeymoon._

Carlisle ran a hand through his hair, somewhat glad that being immortal meant your hair didn't fall out.

The sudden revelation Alice had brought to him, one where Bella was a winged creature, only brought dread on him. The possibilities that had been running through his mind before Edward came only served to haunt him.

If she was what Alice said, then they were truly in over their heads.

But he had to wipe his mind of any of that and focus on his medical journals once Edward came, to prevent him from finding out what he was here for.

Which is why he had a consternated look on his face, switching between looking and Alice, who was reciting and picturing every single character in the Japanese alphabet, while tracing them on Jasper's hand.

Getting Edward, Emmett and Rosalie to return had been more of a challenge than he had thought, but nonetheless they all sat around him at this moment.

Edward was looking pained, and had a desolate vacant look in his eye.

After mulling around some words, he began. "I have called this family meeting and called us all from our own activities to discuss a matter that very much concerns the whole family."

He looked around, trying to gauge their reaction, but no one moved at all. "Alice had a very disconcerting vision involving someone we thought to be human."

At that point, Edward and Rosalie tensed up, Edward's eyes widening and his lips curling up into a snarl.

"Alice I told you not to look for B-Bella's future!" he choked out at the same time Emmett bellowed, "What do you mean she's not human?"

Esme curled up tighter, linking her her hand with her coven leader, "Exactly what I meant. Alice, could you explain your vision again?"

She nodded, her eyes fogging up as she relived the vision, "I saw Bella with huge white wings extending from her back, wielding a sword and shield." She looked back at Jasper when she finished and he wrapped his arm around her petite shoulders.

"That's impossible! B-Bella's _human!_" Edward exclaimed, tripping up on the abandoned family member's name.

"It is possible that she is not human, son," Carlisle attempted to mollify him, even thought he very well knew that his first son could very well be as stubborn as a mule.

"Hold on, Carlisle," Jasper said. "Do you mean to say that other preternatural beings exists other than vampires and werewolves?"

Carlisle nodded his head gravely.

"Yes. That is exactly what I am saying. Now, I do not know much about the other supernatural beings on this earth, however, I know about the particular being Alice saw our Bella as."

"Avengers of the innocent and protectors of life…Angel. There is a possibility that Bella Swan is an Angel."

The moment he said that the whole room burst into a glass-breaking mess of sound.

But one voice shown through: "We have to find our daughter, Carlisle," Esme said.

He nodded and the sounds died down, "Yes, as of now, we're all looking for Bella," he aimed a shadowed look at Edward, disapproving, "We made the wrong choice, son, now it's time to fix it. All of us."

And so, the search for Bella began.

~.~.~

When Antoine and Charlie came back, Mina and I were standing guard on the porch.

We didn't very much enjoy the whole night, worried sick about our Guardians, and not even Seth and Jacob could quell that feeling.

Just so we didn't worry Jacob and Seth _too _much, I had Mina sit in my lap while I brushed through her hair and gave her a French Braid. She was whistling while scanning the woods every once in a while, and I gave into temptation and asked her the questions I had ever since she introduced Ant as her Guardian.

"Mina?" I asked cautiously, putting a bright purple hair tie with a black rose on the end of her braid.

She made a humming sound to show me she was listening.

"How did you meet Antoine?"

She giggled and turned around. "It's a long story, are you sure you're up to it?"

I nodded and shifted around to make myself comfortable.

"Well, like you know, none of us are let down from Upstairs until we have a Guardian, but for me, I had to actually meet mine. I had absolutely no idea what the desk guys had in mind, but last time I checked the rule book, it said 'No Guardian, No Earth,' and my being up there for a while made me weary of breaking any of the rules.

"But the deskies insisted that it was a direct order from Big Guns upstairs! So, I got my feathery little butt over to the doorway, and skedaddled down to Earth.

She leaned forward poked my stomach playfully, "You know how the first time on Earth is. An alien planet so different to Upstairs, and I had been dumped in the middle of a field outside a little village in Southern France.

Her blue eyes twinkled at this point in the story, "I made myself little human child, you know, to seem less threatening, and skipped into town. It was sometime in the medieval era, around 1300 CE. I had just climbed a tree and was swinging my legs when this scraggly, unkempt boy comes up to me and asks me in medieval French, '_Que faites-vous?'_

"Of course he would ask what I was doing, I was in a tree! So I answered that I was counting leaves. The boy looked at me oddly then climbed up next to me. By dusk, his mama was calling him, so he left inside and asked my name. I came up with the first name that came to mind, 'Adaminna.' It was Spanish, to an extent, but then he surprised me in that moment and pronounced it flawlessly. Then he shouted back, '_Je m'apelle Antoine!'"_

My eyes were wide, "So you met him when he was a child? Before he was a vampire?"

She nodded enthusiastically, "Yep, it was perfect. I went to sleep that night thinking of his pretty black eyes and cute curly hair. He came back to the tree sunrise the next day with a roll of bread in his shirt. We met up to play all the time and I learned that his mother was Spanish and his father French. He knew how to speak both languages and I helped him write it.

"He got curious about where I came form one day, and I simply told him, 'I'm an Angel!' of course he was used to what he called my strange answers, and just shook his head and said I was silly.

He eyes darkened as she got to the next part, "He was twenty when he kissed me and went off to get wood. He told me he wanted to marry me, and was shortly thereafter attacked by a vampire, and I was left defenseless for three excruciating days. I made a protection circle around him while he changed."

The sad smile completely eradicated itself when she said the next part, tapping her tiny fists on her thighs to a little beat. "But when he woke up, he was the single most beautiful being I had ever seen. And so, I asked him if he still loved me, and he looked at me like I had lost the very last of my marbles and said 'Of course, silly girl.' At the moment, I didn't know the protection circle was taming his thirst, but I thought nothing of it. I began making a Crystallis binding ring."

My mouth fell open yet again with shock. A Crystallis was an ancient piece of magic; it would bind Guardians to Seraphs and Cherubs, and compel them to utter devotion to their charge.

"So you gave him a choice them, when you asked him if he loved you? You made sure he was still in love with you either way?"

She nodded, "I can't stand the thought of forcing him so I had to ask. And when he put the ring on, he felt the burn of the vampire's thirst, but he said that I was not appealing to him. He couldn't think to hurt me."

My mind whirled. I never fathomed that binding a vampire to you could make them immune to your scent.

I shook my head as I saw movement in the forest, and Mina's head whipped around to look as well, her long ringlets nearly smacking me in the face.

In half a second, she was up and blurring to the tree line and met up with another tall blur halfway there, where she was spun around and I saw Antoine smiling.

My heart almost throbbed, seeing the happy couple twirling around.

It made me long for my sweet vampire and his family.

Charlie appeared at my shoulder and turned me away from them, "We found nothing, but Antoine got a little blip on his radar thing. Said that a human drinker had been present recently but had made a mad dash west, disappeared straight into the water. I invited him and Adaminna to stay over, I don't feel right with them wandering around at night. It doesn't seem right to leave them out in the open."

I nodded, pursing my lips; I didn't like leaving them unprotected either. So I got up and approached the happy couple to announce our decision.

Our merry band of misfits was about to gain two more.

~.~.~

"This is bizarre," Jasper muttered, his hands a blur over the keyboard, "I can't find not a shred of evidence of a Bella or Charlie Swan, not even a Renée Higginbotham Dwyer. It's like they vanished off of the face of the Earth."

Alice nodded, turning to Carlisle who was on hold with some people on the phone; "I can't get a vision of her anywhere in Forks, and all I see is the house for sale."

Rosalie was sitting on the couch, staring at her nails, looking angry, "Maybe she's looking for her beloved _Edward."_

"Shut up, Rosalie!" Edward called from upstairs, making a few phone calls of his own.

Esme and Emmett had gone out for a brief hunting trip and wouldn't be home till in the evening.

"Oh really?" Carlisle murmured, pinching the bridge of his nose and taking a deep breath. "Thank you for your time. Yes, yes, good bye."

Once he hung up, he was met up with four anxious immortals staring at him expectantly, "That was the hospital. The Quileutes began going back to the hospital once I left, and one of the nurses said that a boy named Sam Uley came in and was muttering about Jacob Black and Seth Clearwater having gone with the Swans to Alaska."

Alice gasped, and immediately started searching the future for things in their area.

Sure, Alaska was big, but she would be sure to find something.

And with any luck, she'd be able to make the trip from Fairbanks, Alaska to whatever place Bella might be in and reunite with her sister.

Edward however, grit his teeth together and walked outside, where he began to annihilate every single evergreen he could get his hands on.

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><p><strong>AN: Suspense suspense! To think the CUllens are so close to Anchorage yet so far away! Anyways, thanks for reading and please review! I got nine reviews last chapter so lets try for ten? :) Reviews are love!**


	7. Hallucination

"_This is bizarre," Jasper muttered, his hands a blur over the keyboard, "I can't find not a shred of evidence of a Bella or Charlie Swan, not even a Renée Higginbotham Dwyer. It's like they vanished off of the face of the Earth."_

_Alice nodded, turning to Carlisle who was on hold with some people on the phone; "I can't get a vision of her anywhere in Forks, and all I see is the house for sale."_

_Rosalie was sitting on the couch, staring at her nails, looking angry, "Maybe she's looking for her beloved Edward."_

"_Shut up, Rosalie!" Edward called from upstairs, making a few phone calls of his own._

_Esme and Emmett had gone out for a brief hunting trip and wouldn't be home till in the evening._

"_Oh really?" Carlisle murmured, pinching the bridge of his nose and taking a deep breath. "Thank you for your time. Yes, yes, good bye."_

_Once he hung up, he was met up with four anxious immortals staring at him expectantly, "That was the hospital. The Quileutes began going back to the hospital once I left, and one of the nurses said that a boy named Sam Uley came in and was muttering about Jacob Black and Seth Clearwater having gone with the Swans to Alaska."_

_Alice gasped, and immediately started searching the future for things in their area. _

_Sure, Alaska was big, but she would be sure to find something._

_And with any luck, she'd be able to make the trip from Fairbanks, Alaska to whatever place Bella might be in and reunite with her sister._

_Edward however, grit his teeth together and walked outside, where he began to annihilate every single evergreen he could get his hands on._

* * *

><p>Nine months had passed.<p>

Nine months had passed in which Edward was gone and instead my misfit family stood in his place.

Having both Mina and Ant in the house was a riot. Between Mina flitting from place to place, messing with Seth, and Antoine, Charlie and Jacob discussing manly things, then myself simply reading, it was a full-blown party.

I found it funny that Ant had no idea how to reincorporate himself with two other sentient beings. It was comical to see his face twisting into a grimace while Charlie and Jacob made less than innocent innuendos about what Mina and him had done over the years. From questions as simple as "How do you handle that hyper little cherub?" to "How much _fun_ have you had over the years?"

But over the entire conversation, I couldn't help but think that there was an odd tension between Charlie and Antoine. It was plain in Charlie's stiff positioning, but in Antoine it was a bit harder to catch the way he fidgeted with the sleeve of his sweater and sometimes casted his eyes to the big expansive window.

I couldn't help but think that despite his big, standoffish exterior he was something of a big teddy bear, who only let his mask down around Mina.

And right now, the mask was failing because he was worried for her safety.

I shook my head and aimed it at the same window that Antoine was looking out of.

There was a soft new snow falling just an hour ago, coating the surrounding evergreens in a soft powder, but it had quickly progressed into a more hard falling snow. Likely four feet of snow packed by the gates of the house and steadily creeping up the windows.

It had turned from a silly Winter Wonderland into a horrid, man-eating white storm. Had any humans been out there, I was sure they would have been smothered to death or died from hypothermia.

My mind wandered to and fro, never really settling on one thought or another.

But I felt this insistent pull in my chest, as if a giant metal hook was buried into the flesh of my heart and soul and was tugging me out and away.

I found myself upstairs from one moment to the next, sitting cross legged on my four poster bed, gold eyes aimed at the window across from me, the dress I had worn to my birthday party clutched in my hands.

That silly little night filled with mistakes.

I simply couldn't handle it.

Edward was gone.

My love.

My soulmate.

Nine months had passed by in which all of us became a tight nit family.

But neither Seth's jokes and pranks on Mina, or Antoine, Jacob and Charlie's rough housing could contain my misery any longer.

I was slowly dying.

And they knew it.

It was in the smiles they forced my way, in the way they attempted to include me in their games and the sadness that reflected in their eyes when I said no.

I revisited the memories of Edward so often, that it felt like I had lived that part of my life multiple times over, not just once.

_I shook my head and turned to Alice, taking the box out of her hand. I slipped my finger underneath the tape, hissing softly when a tiny droplet of blood dripped out of my newly acquired paper cut._

…A paper cut that I very well could have healed myself from in seconds had I not been intent on the human façade.

_Jasper lunged at me, his eyes pitch black, lips curled back in an awful snarl that truly made him look like a ferocious vampire. Then, Edward jumped in front of me, throwing me back with such force that I slammed onto his grand piano with a horrible clang of keys, a gash appearing on my arm, oddly numb compared to the paper cut._

When I should have turned my fingers hard as stone to prevent any blood spilling, to prevent Jasper from absorbing everybody's bloodlust and lunging for me.

_"I'm sorry," I muttered as later Carlisle dabbed a cotton swab dipped in alcohol onto my wound. I didn't really feel what he was doing, still in some sort of shock after the complete mess the party had turned into._

_"It's fine Bella. It could happen to anyone," he said._

_"__Could,__" I emphasized. "But it happens to me." He gave a laugh at that._

That very night should have been the night I revealed that I was not turning eighteen, but millennia older than all of them.

I should have summoned courage from inside of me to just flash my wings and pull them into a full stop. I should have used the old aged magic to persuade the Angels of Past to steal the bloodlust of the Cullens for a minute, and in that minute I would have confessed and told them of my life as an Angel.

But I didn't.

And in clinging to the human façade I had worked so hard to keep up in front of the Cullens, I had lost the one that I was sure was my soul mate.

The one being that would end up killing me from the Ache, to protect my fragile human self.

Edward was supposed to be mine. He was supposed to be the one who completed my life. I had roamed the Earth with Charlie for all of Time, and Edward pouncing into my life was fate's way of handing me back all that time lost, wandering aimlessly.

His family would give Charlie what he had been dying to recreate ever since he lost it, his family.

The Cullens would teach me about true family, one whose bonds were truly eternal and undying, who could withstand the test of time in a way that humans simply couldn't withstand.

My gaze wandered down to the blue fabric, the cloth fisted in my hands until my nails threatened to break through it. I brought it to my nose, opening my mouth and inhaling deeply.

It still smelled like Edward, like the Cullens, like my sweet sanctuary.

And even with Mina, Ant, Seth and Jacob and Charlie, I couldn't handle it. I stifled the sob that threatened to crush my chest when I saw the blood stains on the dress.

Then, with one panicked gasp, I ripped open the balcony window of my room and launched myself into the blizzard, wondering which sentient being would win; frost or the loveless damnation I had become.

As I ran, I thought came into my head: _I'm starting to act like Edward._

A blood curling screech erupted from my mouth as I thought of his name, the pain I had pushed to the back of my head erupting into a fiery, all consuming agony.

~.~.~

Edward was researching, looking for his Bella.

He still couldn't wrap his head around it, she was an Angel.

When he would think to himself, he would question some things. The way she loved Wuthering Heights, how her family (were they her real family? Could Angels have families?) called her an old soul.

It was true in a sense, Bella had always seemed older than what she claimed to be. Even older than him at times, but she was always stubborn and hard headed, and it fit with the times so he had waved it off and proclaimed himself more unworthy of her love.

But now that he had the knowledge that Bella was probably an Angel. A seraph sent from above, his self worth scraped the bottom of the barrel.

How could he ever begin to ask Bella for forgiveness?

To forgive him for leaving, for not being good enough for her, for being a soulless monster who could never compare to her.

It was like some kind of cruel ploy of fate, to make him ever even begin to believe that he could have been enough for Bella—

That a vampire and an angel could ever coexist as mates in this world.

"Did you guys hear that?" Edward asked, his head snapping up from his laptop. "It sounded almost like a human screaming."

Carlisle looked at him pointedly, while the rest of the Cullens frowned. He couldn't bare the thought of leaving someone out there in pain, just how he didn't let his family die when they were humans. And the human who was screaming sounded as if they were being torn apart cell by cell, tendon by tendon.

"Are we still in Quileute territory?" Jasper asked quickly, already moving to leave.

Rosalie shook her head, "No, their territory ends in Canada."

Esme appeared at the front door of the hotel room they had rented three miles out of the city of Anchorage. "Let's go, the poor thing might be dying out there!"

And with that, the entire Cullen clan vanished out the front door, making a beeline for agonized wail, flashing through the woods at an incredibly breakneck speed.

~.~.~

I couldn't handle it; I could feel the heavens opening up above me, ready to kill me.

I was leaning against an old weathered tree; hands digging wholes straight through the bark and making it bleed as I was.

"Kill me!" I screeched into the sky. "Kill me!"

And then, I heard what I thought was both heaven and hell enveloped in one.

A stampede of seven people headed my way. And by the sound of it, they were certainly not human.

I jumped up to my feet, fully aware of the fact that my wings were out and my hair was whipping around me in the quickly developing blizzard, poised to take flight at a moment's notice.

And then, they slowed and I realized what they were, and exactly whom I was staring at.

He rammed into me, and I stiffened, all my offensive and defensive training as a warrior sitting on the backburner as I allowed myself to be hugged by a vampire.

My eyes were blazing hot, and I saw them ogling my wings.

My vulnerable white wings.

When he stepped away and whispered my name in a soft baritone, "Bella…"

That is when I broke from the spell, turned, and ran into the forest and taking flight above all of them, just as fast as any of them could have ran.

I was sprinting, far away from the sick illusion my mind had conjured up.

The Cullens couldn't have come back for me, let alone found me.

This was simply a hallucination, one of the many symptoms of the Ache.

And I was damn sure going to do my best to make sure I never saw that face haunting my mind ever again.

But they were chasing me just as resolutely as I was running away, my Adonis right at my heels. I could here them screaming at me, the sweet voice of Esme and the father I never had the chance of truly enjoying begging me to see reason, Emmett and Alice screeching at me to come back, to please be their sister; Jasper and Rosalie even mimicking everyone else and hollering just as much, much to my surprise.

If this was a hallucination, my mind was pretty horrid at keeping the people I knew in character.

I kept running, even once feeling a hand grip my wing, that's when I got frightened, frightened that while my mind was playing tricks on me, my body would be deteriorating on the outside, feathers falling until my wings would fall off, stumps left behind as a mere memory.

I fell down on the ground when one of them managed to trip me, and landed face first hands getting scraped.

"This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real," I chanted, far beyond the realms of salvation.

~.~.~

Edward watched his Bella, his Angel, deteriorating before his eyes.

Emmett had her arms pinned down, her wings flush against his chest, and the most magnificently white feather limbs he had ever seen.

And all the while, she was thrashing, screaming, "This isn't real!" like some sick mantra.

We ran back to the hotel and turned the heater up as much as we could, placing Bella on the bed.

She was still thrashing, so Carlisle took out a bag that carried a tranquilizer, but when the needle pierced Bella's skin and touched her blood, the syringe started to liquefy and the tranquilizer evaporated into thin air.

An hour afterwards, her wings had snapped around her in a protective cocoon and she was sleeping.

It was then that we realize what we had done.

We had kidnapped an Angel, one of heaven's warriors, for the sake of a vampire.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Please forgive me for the late chapter, I started college and it's very time consuming with all the homework. Please review, and I might take my laptop to write the next chapter on it! Reviews are love! Next update should be in two weeks!**


	8. Fallen

Chapter 8

_Edward watched his Bella, his Angel, deteriorating before his eyes._

_Emmett had her arms pinned down, her wings flush against his chest, and the most magnificently white feather limbs he had ever seen._

_And all the while, she was thrashing, screaming, "This isn't real!" like some sick mantra._

_We ran back to the hotel and turned the heater up as much as we could, placing Bella on the bed. _

_She was still thrashing, so Carlisle took out a bag that carried a tranquilizer, but when the needle pierced Bella's skin and touched her blood, the syringe started to liquefy and the tranquilizer evaporated into thin air. _

_An hour afterwards, her wings had snapped around her in a protective cocoon and she was sleeping. _

_It was then that we realize what we had done._

_We had kidnapped an Angel, one of heaven's warriors, for the sake of a vampire._

_~.~.~_

To say that they were likely in the most trouble they would ever get into in their immortal lives was a fair understatement. Edward had recaptured his beloved with the help of his family.

The Volturi would reign down on them; the heavens would open up, swallow them whole then spit them out straight into the seventh circle of hell to suffer an eternal punishment.

They would be casted out from any heaven, them being soulless creatures.

But Edward really could not see reason. As he looked upon his Angel, his Bella who had fallen into a sleep-like coma, repeating her mantra of "This isn't real," he could only feel a bittersweet happiness that she was with him at last.

Yet, was she really with her?

Did he really have his Bella back?

Who was to say that her revealing that she was an angel didn't bring on a whole new personality that she wouldn't change for the worse?

For that matter, this didn't feel like it was Bella.

She was trapped in the confines of her mind, trapped between reality and nightmare, believing that his _reality_ was her _nightmare._

He could remember how when they were in Forks, she'd lie with him in bed, her head resting on his chest and wrapped in her blanket so she wouldn't get too cold from his natural body temperature, and how she would mumble and sleep talk about the most random things.

But occasionally, her full pink lips would open a bit and she'd mumble, _"I love you, Edward."_

He felt his dead heart twist and throb like a prosthesis patient might feel a missing arm's pain. He juxtaposed the Bella he remembered, and the one he refused to let go.

Was this still his Bella?

~.~.~

Mina felt like an absolute idiot.

She knew something was off about Bella that night. She had been getting progressively worse over the months but it was just that specific night that her symptoms took a turn for the worst.

She was withdrawing, not to mention looking outside with the same moments as Antoine.

Now Antoine was her adorable and cute, huge vampire, but he could be just a tad paranoid when it came to protecting her.

It wasn't her fault.

She didn't know that Cherubs and Seraphs were so prone to danger!

So if she saw him glancing out the window, she would brush it off as his usual overprotectiveness.

He had a cause for it now, seeing as there was still someone running around dangerously close to their territory, but that didn't mean Bella had to partake in the paranoia fest as well! Not even Charlie, her guardian, was jumping into the game to look at all the woodland creatures outside as if it was going to squash their imaginary pet kitten!

So, Mina had observed her increasing paranoia and just waved it off.

She was stupid to have done so.

When Bella got up and wandered up to her room in some sort of zombie state, she shook her head of any suspicious thoughts. And Charlie just shrugged.

Bella had been wandering around by herself frequently; one more time didn't really set off their radars.

It wasn't until they felt a cold, ghost draft (since most of them, except for Seth, didn't really feel the cold—or at least it didn't register to them as severely as it did for humans) and their keen ears picked up on a far off scream did they jump up from their seats and sprint at a preternatural speed to her room.

Poor Seth lagged behind, but when he entered, he was able to see the windows blasted open, a fine powdery snow covering most everything in the room, and spots of condensation where some snow had melted. Two foots prints were clear on the balcony, suggesting that someone, likely Bella, had used it as a launching board.

Everyone had donned their gloves, parkas, and boots (to keep up some of the façade) and strutted out into nature, to look for the missing Seraph.

Seth was to stay inside, tending to the phone, just in case. But nothing really goes to plan when things start to blow up.

While they had been inspecting Bella's room, something had snapped in Seth, and he burst into a mass of shredded clothes and fur.

And that was when all hell broke loose.

Thus, the last human in the strange supernatural Brady bunch was gone, and in place was another werewolf.

It was awkward, seeing the sandy colored werewolf that replaced Seth, and even more so when Jacob joined in and phased, the two wolves, as big as houses, nearly suffocated those who were not gigantic wolves.

But nevertheless, once Jacob managed to wrangle him to the ground outside and calm him down they reordered our plan to accommodate the new furry problem and set off to our tasks.

Outside, the snow had fallen in sheets, and the powder erased any tracks Bella might have left behind, so we attempted to scout around in a twenty-mile radius.

Though that too became fruitless. It was as if Bella had vanished off of the face of the earth.

~.~.~

Far off in the distance, a vampire stood with an assortment of Fallen, discussing her plan.

She pulled her ginger colored hair back and gave a fiendish grin, the purple bruises underneath her eyes only serving to highlight her demon red eyes.

"So we'll kidnap her, and then after you gentlemen have had your way with her, I get to kill her?" Victoria confirmed, pale hands on her hips.

A grunt of assertion from the Fallen was her reward, a fleck of bloodied spit landing on her cheek.

She scowled and wiped it off.

Victoria had come across these brutes when she was stalking Bella Swan, and was not turned off by their grotesque bodies but thought they were easy prey.

As soon as she had tried to bite into one of them, she found herself flung off with a horrendous, almost mechanical screech and with a disgusting taste in her mouth rotting away her taste buds. She had fallen on to her hands and knees dry heaving.

After that, she had escaped and found a human toothbrush and tooth paste and scrubbed her mouth down until she couldn't taste the repulsive blood.

The second time, she had just escaped from vampire and the human who were hunting her down in the forest, and she had found them again, seemingly stalking _her_ now instead of the perpetually frustrating Swan girl.

And that was how they found themselves to be in the current position. They had actually managed to speak words to her and convince her that they would get the Swan girl.

And they were going to destroy her in the most profound way possible.

~.~.~

Edward remained frozen on the bed with Bella, unmoving. She kept on with her mantra and Edward simply stayed holding her, his facial expression sometimes fluctuating from pensive to outright horror to pure desolation.

And the other vampires in the house were stuck. They had a zombified heavenly being and a zombified vampire both in the same room, not moving, sleeping or eating. They were like two statues that occasionally moved to shake off annoying pigeons before freezing themselves again.

But Esme couldn't handle it anymore! They were both her children, and it tortured her to see them like this!

So, she walked into the room, taking a half step back when Edward growled at her. The room went eerily silent.

Downstairs, Alice gasped, coming out of a vision.

"She woke up!" she yelled shrilly.

And in the time it took for the rest of the Cullens to cram into the room, Bella's eyes had cleared up, loosing their previous glaze.

~.~.~

Trekking through the forests, even at preternatural speeds, was not a fun thing to do in the middle of a snow storm.


	9. Supreme Law of Seraphs

Chapter 9: Supreme Law of Seraphs

* * *

><p><em>Edward remained frozen on the bed with Bella, unmoving. She kept on with her mantra and Edward simply stayed holding her, his facial expression sometimes fluctuating from pensive to outright horror to pure desolation. <em>

_And the other vampires in the house were stuck. They had a zombified heavenly being and a zombified vampire both in the same room, not moving, sleeping or eating. They were like two statues that occasionally moved to shake off annoying pigeons before freezing themselves again. _

_But Esme couldn't handle it anymore! They were both her children, and it tortured her to see them like this!_

_So, she walked into the room, taking a half step back when Edward growled at her. The room went eerily silent. _

_Downstairs, Alice gasped, coming out of a vision. _

"_She woke up!" she yelled shrilly._

_And in the time it took for the rest of the Cullens to cram into the room, Bella's eyes had cleared up, loosing their previous glaze. _

~.~.~

I had the sense that I had been asleep for a very long time—my body was stiff, like I hadn't moved once through all that time, either. My mind was dazed and slow for the slightest of moments; and strange, colorful dreams—coupled with the nightmares of the Ache—swirled dizzily around the inside of my head.

They were so vivid.

There was a sharp impatience and fear, both part of that frustrating dream where you're feet can't move fast enough….and there were plenty of heavenly monsters plaguing me…taunting me into the Dark final end.

But the thing that was most clear was the Adonis.

It was difficult to let him go and final rouse myself from sleep. I struggled a bit as I came up from my personal abyss. I couldn't remember what day of the week it was but I was sure that Jacob, Charlie and Mina and the rest were waiting for me.

It was in the midst of my "struggling" to wake up that I remembered that I was a Seraph—and Seraphs did not struggle with such a petty task such as rousing themselves.

It took exactly half a second for me to completely rise from the abyss of my mind, once I grasped that concept, and feel the multiple beings that surrounded me while I was vulnerable.

Likely it was then when I finally realized how real everything was. How the stone arms that were wrapped around me like a luscious security blanket were far too substantial.

It only took a fraction of that time for me to snap to attention, flip to my feet while sliding into a defensive crouch, my wings—I mentally winced at the fact that my precious wings were out and susceptible to damage in the first place—tucked close to my body for balance and a sword and shield materializing in my hands.

But no sooner had I completed the action than had I realized how much "danger" I was in.

"Did I frighten you?" the lovely being asked me, his face twisted in a horribly unpleasant manner that somehow still managed to make him look absolutely perfect, and his voice completely low and anxious.

The Cullens all stared at me with varying degrees of horror and bewilderment. I noted ruefully that they would have looked no different had I told them that the Volturi were actually the homosexual sons of my unicorn brother—that is to say, they were absolutely gob smacked.

My eyes glazed over all of them, not really bothering with much detail of how they looked, at least until my eyes landed on Edward.

Edward.

I didn't know whether to snarl at him and tear him a couple of new orifices in unpleasant places or to burst down crying in a maudlin show of hysteria.

He looked all the better than what my memories had come up with during our…time apart. Shiny, thick copper hair, messily perfect as always with that stubborn tuft of mane that always remained down right in the middle of his forehead, his perfectly aristocratic nose, his high, defined cheekbones, his square jawline and prominent Adam's apple; my Adonis, my perfect mate.

But he seemed like a broken child, his eyes—black as pitch—staring at me like the man that traveled the whole desert to get a single drop of water into his parched mouth.

As if he were the man who had both lived through hell and seen paradise.

"Bella…" he whispered, staring at me intently.

My name fell from his perfectly sculpted lips like some sort of prayer and I didn't realize why he looked scared until I noticed the sobs that were coming from my chest and the way my sword had ended up pointing at his throat.

It took a while for me to notice that the sounds were coming from me and it was my hand controlling the sword.

Once I did notice though, I dropped it like a hot coal and curled in on myself, my wings wrapping around my crying form.

Around me I heard shuffling and the telltale whispering of super speed vampire talking.

A hand patted my back and before I know I had flung my arms around the person and was weeping so much that I had no doubt I had probably soaked both their shirt and undershirt through with all my tears.

I wiped my nose with the back of my hand, feeling the edges of the gaping hole in my chest sizzled and writhe in pain.

I knew it was Edward holding me, I knew he was trying to comfort me.

"A-Alice, I need to leave…h-her pain is j-just to much for me to handle," Jasper gasped out from what I guessed was the doorway.

I looked up momentarily and said hurriedly, "S-sorry Jasper."

He gave a shaky grimace, said "It's fine, Bella," and took off with Alice in tow.

Esme disappeared and reappeared in the room quickly, handing me a box of tissues.

I wasn't shy about honking my nose into the tissue; manners were the least of my problems right now.

I was with Edward.

"Bella, are you alright love?" he asked me, those eyes looking every bit as concerned as I remembered them to be.

I took a deep breath and nodded, "Give me a minute to catch my breath," I paused and then added quickly, "I may not be human but it's a horrid habit to break."

Once I got over the embarrassing ordeal of controlling my breathing and reducing the fountain of snot that erupted from my nose to a minimum, I looked at my Edward and tried to figure out what I wanted to say first.

"How…how did you find me?" I settled on, looking down and fiddling with the primary feathers of my wings. "I did my best to erase any trace of Bella Swan."

I looked up at his face when I saw the tendons in his long snowy-white arm sticking out like cords from the force he was putting on his clenched fist.

"We looked all over the continental United States, we searched your school record," he was speaking slowly, choosing his words carefully. "Then we decided to start checking farther up north. Carlisle had some…idea of what you were…so we made up base in Alaska…then we heard someone, you, screaming and we went off and found you and brought you back."

I tried to process his words, but one thing ran right at the front of my brain. "You kidnapped me," I said grimly.

I regretted the words almost as soon as they left my mouth when I saw him look so agonized. "No, Edward, I mean to my…_species_, it'll look as if you kidnapped me…which means they'll think you broke the Supreme Law," I covered my face with my hands as I moaned the last part out.

"What?" he asked in such a way that I expected him to stutter. "Bella, what do you mean Supreme Law?"

I grudgingly took my hands away from my face and glanced around the room, noticing that the rest of the Cullens, barring Alice and Jasper, were still in the dimly lit room.

I ran a hand through my hair, noticing that it still had that golden look and I was still in my Seraph form.

Closing my eyes, I focused on calming down my nerves and returning to looking like a vampire. There were gasps all around as I climbed out of the bed gracefully, golden eyes looking around quickly.

"There are laws in the Seraph world, ones other species do not like to break because it usually means all out war with our kind. And my kind does not play nice," I paused here and folded my wings up into my back, knowing that little gold, glittering dust was twirling away from them as they disappeared. "My kind annihilates those who dare defy those who granted them life."

~.~.~

We all gathered downstairs, Rosalie had called Jasper and Alice back in and they were now sitting in one of the many loveseats in the living room. Everyone was coupled off except for Edward and I.

Not for lack of trying. He had patted the seat next to him for me to sit with him but I had openly refused and brought in a chair from the kitchen and sat right in front of the fireplace where everyone could see me.

"Okay, Carlisle, I think the easiest way for us to begin is for me to know what you have been told about angels. So, what do you know about my kind?"

He breathed deeply from his nose and angled his head at me, "It's nothing substantial. Simply that those of your kind are the avengers of the innocent and the protectors of life."

I nodded, that pretty much meant he knew nothing about Angels. "Okay then, I'll start from the beginning of how Charlie and I were brought to earth. I was created at the beginning of time. Those of my kind are called Angels by English speaking societies. We are the balance between the Earth's supernatural creatures and species. Charlie here and his wife Renee, are my Guardians, they was made an Angel after a series of events occurred while they were alive. I am a Seraph of the first degree; I was created and born an Angel, rather than transformed as Charlie and Renee.

"I am one of the oldest living beings on this very earth," I said conclusively, nodding to myself. "And as such, I feel it's my responsibility to educate you on Seraphic laws. The Supreme Law being _Non furtum facies._"

Carlisle's eyes widened, "Thou shalt not steal."

I nodded, "To break that law is to commit sin. To commit sin against a Seraph, Guardian or Cherub is to owe them retribution. I was in my house in Anchorage when you took me, a Cherub, Adaminna Colburn and her mate, a vampire by the name of Antoine Colburn neé Prideux. Not to mention my Guardian Charlie, who holds seniority over you all by near on five thousand years. They all have the God given right to punish your clan as they see fit or allow the Big Guns Upstairs to determine your fate."

This cast a shadow over the entirety of the Cullen coven as they realized exactly what they had done.

They had kidnapped me.

Now they would have to suffer through the consequences.

I shook my head of the paltry thoughts and readdressed them, "Though Mina is a flighty character, so I doubt she'll be as tough on you as others of my kind, and Antoine might suggest a reasonable punishment since he is, after all, a vampire and the one most likely to be able to sympathize, Charlie might not be as sympathetic but I might be able to convince him to stop fussing over me and just see you as people instead of criminals."

Rosalie nearly snarled at me, but I sent her a withering glare.

I wasn't in the mood to deal with her sycophantic blather and horrible views on me.

As soon as I had finished I got up from my seat and walked away, content to leave them to their thoughts.

My feet led me outside into the snowy landscape where I sat down in the snow and turned my eyes to the sky to search for my answer.

Could I let Edward back into my heart?

~.~.~

The Fallen searched through all of the forests for their query, teary it limb from limb and scaring all of the forests nymphs and their satyrs far far away.

Their grotesque, rotting faces slipped into cruel looking grins every once in a while, blood dribbling down their chins in some disgusting replication of drool and saliva. Whatever their breath touched died.

And they had wreathes of the pleasant looking lobelia flower all around their necks and filling their pockets till bursting, looking for their target.

Victoria reluctantly followed them, not breathing in order to not have to suffer the horrendous vomit-like stench of death that followed the creatures wherever they went.

But she had this feeling permeating her whole being, she had a feeling, and instinct, that they were going to find Isabella Swan and torture that stupid little sack of flesh till she died begging for mercy and those gaudy wings of hers were torn straight from her back.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Review and tell me your thoughts! :)**


	10. Dark Sorceress

Chapter 10 Dark Sorceress

Mina was going out of her mind!

She was two steps away from ripping every strand of hair straight off of her head and screaming profanities at the sky; and if you knew what type of a person she was, you would know this was as out of character as she would get.

The normally eccentric and bubbly cherub had called upon her scepter and wings and was prowling through the forests of Anchorage like a madwoman with her vampire Guardian at her side and Charlie, Seth and Jacob not too far behind, searching everything they could find.

It was a sight to see a Cherub, who was for all intents and purposes a the human equivalent of a dark sorceress with wings and the title of "angel", two shape shifters sniffing through all of the foliage and two Guardians fully decked out in their armor.

"Mina, maybe we should take a break love?" Antoine asked, placing his hand on her petite shoulder.

Her face crumpled in sadness, "But we need to find her!" she said pathetically, falling into his arms, her curly, snow covered ringlets falling down her back like a blanket.

"I know love, but it won't do for us to go about this like a bunch of headless chickens. We need to regroup and find her with a plan. I hate that she's been taken as much as you do, but there is still a threat out there, love."

She reared her head back, her eyes flashing dangerously, "I don't care what I find, if anything crosses my path I. Will. Obliterate. It!"

Antoine smiled grimly, his gold eyes sparkling a bit at her cute anger—she was, after all, about as dangerous to him as a riled up kitten— "Yes, of course you will love. But we need to go back and plan, right guys?"

Around him, Charlie nodded through the visor of his helmet and Jacob and Seth gave loud barks of approval.

Mina grumbled, she was never good at being quadruple-teamed, "Fine. We'll go regroup."

~.~.~

_"I am one of the oldest living beings on this very earth," I said conclusively, nodding to myself. "And as such, I feel it's my responsibility to educate you on Seraphic laws. The Supreme Law being __Non furtum facies.__"_

_Carlisle's eyes widened, "Thou shalt not steal."_

_I nodded, "To break that law is to commit sin. To commit sin against a Seraph, Guardian or Cherub is to owe them retribution. I was in my house in Anchorage when you took me, a Cherub, Adaminna Colburn and her mate, a vampire by the name of Antoine Colburn neé Prideux. Not to mention my Guardian Charlie, who holds seniority over you all by near on five thousand years. They all have the God given right to punish your clan as they see fit or allow the Big Guns Upstairs to determine your fate."_

_This cast a shadow over the entirety of the Cullen coven as they realized exactly what they had done._

_They had kidnapped me._

_Now they would have to suffer through the consequences._

_I shook my head of the paltry thoughts and readdressed them, "Though Mina is a flighty character, so I doubt she'll be as tough on you as others of my kind, and Antoine might suggest a reasonable punishment since he is, after all, a vampire and the one most likely to be able to sympathize, Charlie might not be as sympathetic but I might be able to convince him to stop fussing over me and just see you as people instead of criminals."_

_Rosalie nearly snarled at me, but I sent her a withering glare._

_I wasn't in the mood to deal with her sycophantic blather and horrible views on me._

_As soon as I had finished I got up from my seat and walked away, content to leave them to their thoughts._

_My feet led me outside into the snowy landscape where I sat down in the snow and turned my eyes to the sky to search for my answer._

_Could I let Edward back into my heart?_

~.~.~

The obvious answer to that question was a big resounding _"No."_

Not after everything I had suffered.

Not after he left me to die in the forest of Forks.

_"And in return, it'll be as if I never existed."_

I grit my teeth together and sent a fiery glare at the sky.

It's true, it was partially my fault that he left while under the impression that I was human and at that, a human that was both prone to attack of other species and accident prone. How could he have known that I was infinitely older than him and infinitely more powerful than the human I was trying to seem like?

But still, human or not, he didn't have the right to decide my fate. Only the Big Guns was allowed that privilege, not some depressed and desolate vampire…

I winced even as I insulted him in my mind.

"Bella?"

I turned my head back slowly at Alice.

"Can I join you?"

I nodded quickly before returning my eyes back to the sky. She mimicked the way I was sitting and looked in the same direction as I was, her little pixie features pinched in thought.

Before she had even opened her mouth, I muttered, "I forgive you, Alice."

She sputtered, probably trying to figure out how I knew what she was going to say.

I gave her a gray smile, "Being what I am gives me the upper hand when it comes to intuition, Alice."

She nodded, "I understand that you forgive me, Bella. But I still have to get this off of my chest. I just feel really responsible, I didn't get a glimpse of what you were until we were in Denali and then Carlisle confirmed that you weren't human."

She paused when I aimed my golden gaze at her, "I don't condone Edward's decision. Emmett and I fought with him every second there was so he would change his mind, but he is your mate and he had the last say about matters concerning you. We knew that he was acting out of his pessimistic worldview, but we went along with it."

She grabbed my hand in hers and squeezed, "I know that it will be a long while coming before you ever trust us enough again to forgive us but please remember that we all love you, you're family, and Cullens don't let go of their family all too easily."

I ran a hand through my hair, taking note that we both probably looked hilarious with snow all over the place. I could already see the clumps of ice in Alice's hair.

"You're my best friend, how could I not forgive you Alice Whitlock Cullen?"

She gave me such a bright grin and then slammed into me with a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek, "Oh Bella, I knew you'd come around!"

I couldn't help the laugh the bubbled up my throat, how it sounded hoarse and unused from all my silent months.

~.~.~

After a while, I was inside, sitting at the kitchen counter as Esme bustled around trying to figure out what to make, "Esme, you do know that food isn't really a necessity for me, right?"

"I know sweetie, but still, I never miss an opportunity to cook for you!" she said with the most infectious grin I had ever seen in my life.

As soon as she put a steaming plate of chicken Alfredo in front of me, I shut up about all my protests and dug straight in.

"Esme, I don't think anyone makes food as great as you," I grinned after swallowing a big mouthful. "Best mother anyone can ask for, if you ask me."

And once again, before I knew, I was being positively choked in a monstrous embrace. "Bella, sweet Bella, you don't know how much that means to me!"

~.~.~

By the time it was night, I was sitting on the same bed that I had awoken on.

It seemed that though I was awake all this time, the one person I was itching to confront was avoiding me.

Edward had not shown his face to me since I had confessed that to Seraphs, the simple act of taking one of us without consent was considered kidnapping, no matter what the intentions were. After all, the road to hell was paved with good intentions.

After twiddling my thumbs for a while and thinking for at least fifteen minutes about how I was going to do this, I called out his name softly.

He appeared at the door, disheveled and looking all the worse for wear.

But I could still smell that delectable scent rolling off of him like a sweet heroine, the perfect bone structure, impeccable muscles rolling beneath his shirt, and penetrating dark eyes as they bored into me like a drill through a defenseless plank of wood.

"You called, Bella?" he said in that unquestionably husky baritone.

I think my resolve had finished wavering was completely demolished the moment he stepped into the room. "W-we need to talk about some things."

He nodded and closed the door behind him softly. I patted the space on the bed in front of me and marveled at how fluidly he moved and how it never seemed as if the light was shining on him, rather that he was permitting the specks of light to dance precariously around him.

"Look," I started, averting my eyes from his perfect body. "You messed up and I messed up. We're both two immortal beings that made some very horrid mistakes but I'm willing to let those pass right along on one condition."

I never knew that you could hear someone's happiness. "Anything, Bella. I'd give anything to have your forgiveness and earn your love back."

Practically melting into a pile of mush at the heart felt words; I lifted my hand to brush against his cheek and the edge of his jaw. "Tell me what was running through your mind when you said…" I dropped my voice a couple of octaves to mimic his smooth baritone, "I don't want you anymore. You're not good for me, Bella. I don't love you anymore."

The look of happiness quickly disappeared from his face and he once more seemed like a crestfallen child, "You weren't going to let go," he whispered, extending his own hand to push a stray lock of hair behind my ear. "I could see that. I didn't want to do it—it felt like it would kill me to do it—but I knew that if I couldn't convince you that I didn't love you anymore, it would just take you that much longer to get on with your life. I hoped that, if you thought _I'd_ moved on, so would you."

A tear slipped down my cheek.

"But my sweet Bella, I thought it was going to take a new born army to convince you that I didn't love you. I was prepared for the absolute worse—ready to lie through my teeth for hours to you to convince you."

"Thou shalt not lie…" I mumbled, by now having nuzzled up next to Edward and enjoying the feel of his skin on mine that had been denied for over a year to me.

"But how could you believe me? After all the thousands of times that I've told you I've loved you, how could you let one word break your faith in me? I could see it in your eyes, that you honestly _believed_ that I didn't want you anymore. The most absurd, ridiculous concept—as if there were any way that _I_ could exist without needing _you_!"

A sob erupted from my throat again for the second time in two days. "It just didn't make sense for someone like you to love _me,_ just little old Bella Swan!"

He ran his hand down my hair and over the curve of my back in soothing circles, "That's even more absurd. How could a vampire ever be incomparable to an angel?"

I gave him a vicious grin, "When you've lived as long as I have, all the stereotypes tend to dissolve away."

"Fine, then," he said resolutely. "Then let's agree on one thing: I will never leave you, Isabella Swan and there will no longer be any secrets between us."

I nodded quickly and than met my lips up to his in what must have been the most sweet and wet kiss that I have ever had during the course of my existence.

Who would've thought that kissing the lips of a creature who feeds on blood could be so sweet, so unbelievably heavenly that if I had the choice I would spend eternity with my lips locked with Edward's.

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><p><strong>AN: Please review! I can't update fast if I'm not thoroughly motivated by reviews! Can we try for fifteen reviews?**


	11. Fury

_Chapter 11- Fury_

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><p><em>"But my sweet Bella, I thought it was going to take a new born army to convince you that I didn't love you. I was prepared for the absolute worse—ready to lie through my teeth for hours to you to convince you."<em>

_"Thou shalt not lie…" I mumbled, by now having nuzzled up next to Edward and enjoying the feel of his skin on mine that had been denied for over a year to me._

_"But how could you believe me? After all the thousands of times that I've told you I've loved you, how could you let one word break your faith in me? I could see it in your eyes, that you honestly __believed__ that I didn't want you anymore. The most absurd, ridiculous concept—as if there were any way that __I__ could exist without needing __you__!"_

_A sob erupted from my throat again for the second time in two days. "It just didn't make sense for someone like you to love __me,__ just little old Bella Swan!"_

_He ran his hand down my hair and over the curve of my back in soothing circles, "That's even more absurd. How could a vampire ever be incomparable to an angel?"_

_I gave him a vicious grin, "When you've lived as long as I have, all the stereotypes tend to dissolve away."_

_"Fine, then," he said resolutely. "Then let's agree on one thing: I will never leave you, Isabella Swan and there will no longer be any secrets between us."_

_I nodded quickly and than met my lips up to his in what must have been the most sweet and wet kiss that I have ever had during the course of my existence._

_Who would've thought that kissing the lips of a creature who feeds on blood could be so sweet, so unbelievably heavenly that if I had the choice I would spend eternity with my lips locked with Edward's._

_~.~.~_

"Mina," Seth said enthusiastically. "Why don't we just call Bella or trace the signal on her phone?"

Jacob put on a sarcastically happy tone of voice, "Oh yeah! Let's just call her up! Oh wait, she left her phone in her room! Damn, Seth, if your gonna throw out an idea, think about it before you speak!"

Seth blushed, embarrassed, and ducked his head, "Hey, I didn't get to inspect the room like you guys before I exploded into a gigantic wolf. Not my fault."

On the other side of the room, Antoine shook his head, "It's fine, Seth. It was a good idea."

Charlie, however, was stuck on a particularly odd trace he and Ant had caught while in the forest. It was barely there, a barely putrid scent, but it was faint as if some type of magic or something was shielding it.

Charlie shook his head, trying to think of a creature that would give off such a horrid stench.

~.~.~

I was talking in low tones with Edward, simply enjoying my time with him.

And it was during this lovely bliss that a horrible thought occurred to me. All my words about Mina coming to start trouble and I hadn't contacted her, and somewhere deep in my being I knew that I didn't _want_ to contact her.

I had separated myself from them. Suddenly I wasn't a part of their group.

There was a definitively divide between _them _and_ us._ And I realized with guilty pang that I considered myself one of the Cullens yet again.

Edward noticed how I unexpectedly stiffened with my thoughts and rubbed my forearm in an attempt to make me thaw out, his dark eyes sparkling with concern, "Love, what's wrong?"

I frowned and shook my head. "It's nothing, I was just thinking…weird thoughts."

My frown deepened as I finally took notice of the bruises underneath his eyes, I traced them lightly with my index finger, "Little Mind Reader, you need to feed."

He chuckled at the new nickname I had brandished him with. During the night while we were talking, he asked me why I called him such a ridiculous name, and I told him that if Alice was my Hyper Death Pixie, Emmett was my Little Brother and Jasper was my Little Major then he was my Little Mind Reader. He found it funny that I was using my age as incentive to give them "Little" names.

He also found it hilarious that I called Rosalie the Big Witchy Witch when we were talking. Not to mention that he was amused that I had come up with those names the very first time I had set foot in the Cullen house.

My face sobered up a bit though, "You should treasure your sustenance, through out time their have been famines and shortages that affected even the vampires, so be aware and eat while you can."

He cocked an eyebrow at me, "When has there been a shortage for vampires?"

I gave a grim smile, "The Bubonic Plague, the Stone Age, the Agricultural Revolution, the Age of Iron and Steel…the Holocaust."

He noticed how I paused and made a face at the word Holocaust.

I took it as a means to continue, "During the Holocaust, many of my kind were relieved from out duties of keeping peace among the species and instead were assigned onto the Death and Labor camps like Warsaw."

This only proved to confuse my beautiful Adonis even more, "But why would you have been put there? Wouldn't you have been hurt? You bled when Jasper bit you!"

I nodded, "I hesitated to make my skin hard and have you perceive me as a threat. But while we were in there, we served as beacons of hope. We healed and preached. We gave hope. When all was lost, they looked inside of Pandora's box and saw us there, their hope."

His eyes widened and glimmered with some good feeling I couldn't identify. "Protectors of Life and Avengers of the Innocent."

Giving him a small smile, I continued. "Yes. We healed them, and if we were hurt, we healed and showed them the miracle of our… the 'Big Guns Up Stairs,'" I amended.

"There was this one time, in fact, when I was assigned to a Death Camp, so I traveled to a neighboring Jewish town that was being taken to it. Charlie, Renee and I posed as a robust man, young woman, and I went into the children's rooms of the camps. We were branded and mistreated, some angels came very close to being raped, but we prevailed in the end. We gave hope to the hopeless, and fooled some of the Nazis into thinking that they had killed hundreds of our Innocents when in reality they had killed no one."

Edward just kept on looking at me as if I had grown a strange growth in the middle of my forehead. I looked down and started twiddling my thumbs, "I had no choice but to follow orders. It wasn't a supernatural war, but if it kept on than all the magical creatures would have died off from either lack of sustenance, love or exposure from starvation.

"It sounds horrible to think we wanted to liberate people so they could be someone else's food, but its not all that bad—dying, I mean. I've taken some people upstairs when I was younger; it wasn't at all as horrible as humans make it out to me. It's…like floating in a giant sea of candy floss. Almost whimsical…and that's where you start the next big adventure, isn't it?"

He just kept on looking at me like a doe caught in the headlights than he cradled my head in his hands and pressed his cold lips up against mine.

I just melted into his touch and threw my arms around his neck, opening my mouth for him.

The feeling of his cold mouth on mine was fantastic, if the feeling could have been bottle up then I was positive that we could turn it into the cure for human depression and The Ache.

Before things could get too hot and heavy, he pulled away and flashed me his crooked smile, "You, Isabella Swan, are the most selfless person I have ever encountered in my century of life."

I blushed fire engine red, "I wouldn't say that, I've met people who were more selfless than me."

He rolled his eyes and ran his hand through his copper colored hair, "Naturally. You, my fair angel, have lived since the dawn of time. You have met infinitely more people than I have in my short time on this planet, Miss Swan."

I ducked my head and swatted at his arm.

He just roared in laughter, his eyes twinkling.

~.~.~

"Hey, Bella?" Emmett called, pausing his Call of Duty game to turn around and look at me. Jasper grumbled some about how Emmett always stole the controller and paused the _damn _game right when the blond was about to get a headshot

"What's up, Emmett?" I asked, munching on some Flamin' Hot Cheetohs just because I could.

"Can angels beat vampires physically?" he asked, curiosity bouncing around in his eyes.

I gave him a wary look, "I don't know, it's never been asked before…why are you asking?"

He gave a mischievous grin and flashed over to me and set me down on one side of a boulder outside.

Edward, who had been carrying me on his lap, stormed out of the house yelling, "What the hell, Emmett!"

I looked between the two vampires. Edward's coal black eyes were sparking in anger and Emmett just looked at him innocently.

"C'mon, Edward. I just want to know whether or not angels are stronger than vampires!"

Now, I had never really seen the physical strength of my kind. We just…sparred amongst ourselves every once in a while, and if there was to be any kind of noise from how we fought in the rolling heavenly sky, then we shook it off.

We usually ignored the thunder that struck as soon as our pure swords clanged against our gold shields, or when we body slammed someone onto the cobbled "ground" of heaven.

"You will _not_ hurt, Bella," Edward growled, chest-to-chest with Emmett, looking up rather comically.

But the words he used were by no means comical to me.

An old agony surged up in my chest and I gritted my teeth.

Just as Emmett was about to give in, I stepped in and growled, "You're right, Edward. Emmett _will not_ hurt me. I can handle whatever a little hatchling vampire can throw at me."

Emmett grinned and Edward's jaw dropped.

It seemed like seconds before the whole Cullen family had assembled outside and Emmett crouched in front of me.

With a quick swish of glittering wind I was in my gold visor and helmet, chest plate, chain mail, my skin giving off the glow that tuned me in to the fact that I was in full Seraph mode.

I bent my knees below me and arched my wings up, giving Emmett a Cheshire cat grin. Leveling out my fist to him—seeing as I didn't actually want to kill him, I saw no reason to aim pointy objects at him—and pulling my shield to cover my chest, I said, "Bring it on, baby vampire."

He came running at me, with that blurring speed that could make any humans head spin.

Alice and Jasper were off somewhere, screaming at me to dodge, but I didn't do anything until Emmett was right in front of me, his arms outstretched to body slam me into the ground.

I might have giggled _just_ _a bit_ when I ducked underneath his arms and sidestepped away, pumping my legs as fast as I could go, a couple of strands of hair flying behind me pin straight from my sprinting.

As I turned around, I saw Emmett skidding to a stop, a huge cloud of snow spraying into the air around him about fifteen feet high.

"What the hell was that, Bella?" he yelled out. "When did you get so fast!"

"I was created this way, Emmett," I said cheekily, smirking at him.

"Dammit, I'll get you," he growled, charging at me yet again.

_You would think he would get the picture,_ I thought, using the same move to side step him again.

But this time, he reached down and managed to grab the very last bone segment on my wing.

And I howled in agony when I heard the thrice-damned crunch that indicated he had crushed the bone straight through.

And I swear to He Who Is Almighty, when I turned around I must have been possessed by the Devil himself to have snarled so viciously as I did then.

And Emmett probably would have peed his pants then if he could have.

I turned around in the ground so fast that a cylinder of snow rose up around me in a full circle, and when I ran at him my feet were stomping on the dirt ground below the snow.

I jumped up when I was a foot away from him, at least six feet in the air, and stomped my foot into his chest.

There was about a millisecond where he struggled to keep his footing before he went grinding into the snow twenty feet out.

From the house, I heard screaming, namely Rosalie, before Emmett's rumbling laugh filled the yard.

"Damn, Bella, that was one hell of a kick!" Emmett exclaimed, his hand over the part of his chest that was reforming. He gave a faint wince once it finished snapping together.

I nodded, "My temper gets the best of me sometimes. Are you satisfied with my strength?"

"Hell no! Come on, best three out of a five!"

"Emmett, I think that's quite enough," Carlisle said, approaching him and clapping him on the back.

Jasper flashed him a grin, and said in a smooth Southern drawl, "I believe you, Emmett, just got your rear handed to you by a lady of high standing!"

Alice appeared right up in front of me a hugged me extremely tight, practically vibrating in my arms, "Bella that was so awesome!"

Esme smiled at me from far away, standing next to Carlisle. Rosalie's laugh melted for a second when she looked at me, before giving a wan smile and turning back to her husband.

Alice bounced right back to Jasper and then I was left alone with my golden eyed Adonis.

My eyes traced the tendons that stuck out on his arms and disappeared into his blue collared shirt, the sharp bob of his Adam's apple, the line of his jaw, the jut of his chin and the dark golden butterscotch that stared out at me from underneath bronze hair.

I smirked at him, snaking my arms around his waist and arching up to look at him, "It'll be in your best interest to remember who is stronger here, Edward."

He gave a sigh of defeat before his perfectly sculpted lips curved up into my crooked smile, and I pressed my lips into his.

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><p><strong>AN: Please send me your thoughts in the form of a review. :) I usually use most of the questions you guys send me and answer them within the chapter! REVIEW!**


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